Glass

Target Language or Knowledge:

Although glass is a solid, it’s an amorphous solid. That means it’s rigid but has a molecular structure that’s random like a liquid. It’s this interesting molecular structure that makes glass transparent. Glass is made up of silica, which is basically a high-quality type of sand. Other materials, such as metals and metal oxides, are added to silica to lower the melting point of the mixture. Other key ingredients often found in glass include soda (sodium dioxide) and lime (calcium oxide). Glassblowers mix these ingredients to make a batch of glass, which they will melt in a furnace in their workshop (called a hot shop). The batch is heated in a pot called a crucible to an initial temperature of over 2,000º F

solid interesting transparent silica lower glass Glassblowers glass furnace crucible