# Glass. What the hell is it!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 14, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821 "2000-02-14T19:06:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/21 "2000-02-15T22:10:00Z")
wait, where have i heard that before, oh yeah, that’s what Cecil just said. * * * We live in an age that reads too much to be wise, and thinks too much to be beautiful–Oscar Wilde ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/22 "2000-02-15T22:40:00Z")
I stepped on another SUPERCOOLED LIQUID the other morning and nearly fell on my ass ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/23 "2000-02-15T22:56:00Z")
> [@](#): > > You know that little bit of honey at the bottom of the bear? You turn it over and by the time your toast is done it hasn’t moved at all? That’s a solid. I’ll have to take your word on that one, pal. I think the bottom of a bear would smell too bad for me to get close enough to assess the structure on the honey in it. 😃 * * * “If you drive an automobile, please drive carefully–because I walk in my sleep.”–Victor Borge ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/24 "2000-02-15T23:26:00Z")
Actually in Hell glass is undoubtably liquid ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2000, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/25 "2000-02-16T00:30:00Z")
I bet visine reaks havok on people with glass eyes!! ---
**Author:** ![Gund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Gund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gund)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2000, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/26 "2000-02-16T14:28:00Z")
## I happen to know somebody who lives in an house which is over 120yrs old and the original panes have warped. This may be because glass was not made well at the time, but it seems odd that it is noticably thicker at the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/27 "2000-02-17T06:15:00Z")
It’s not a question of being “well made”, it’s a question of how flat sheets of glass was made at all. The method used for hundreds of years was (simplifying tremendously) blowing a glass ball, cutting off half of it, and then spinning it hot until it flattened. This _always_ produced glass that was thicker toward the original center, and most glaziers would (following natural human instinct, though not actual engineering necessity) install it with the thick part at the bottom. Ordinary glass does not flow on a normal human timescale at normal human temperatures. We have plenty of ancient Roman glass that has not discernably flowed at all. * * * John W. Kennedy “Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.” – Charles Williams ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2000, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/28 "2000-02-16T19:10:00Z")
To get back to occam’s original question if the water has cooled enough to be in the same state as glass, sure you could throw a baseball through it. ICE ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2000, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/29 "2000-02-16T20:34:00Z")
I meant to address this comment. > [@](#): > > Originally posted by Boris B: > You know that little bit of honey at the bottom of the bear? You turn it over and by the time your toast is done it hasn’t moved at all? That’s a solid. If you scraped it out and put it in a teacup, it would not conform to the shape of the cup. The solid at the bottom of the honey jar (bear shaped or not) is precipitated sugar. Thus it is crystalline. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2000, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/30 "2000-02-16T21:48:00Z")
The term LIQUID when used in the description of glass has to do with the rapid cooling of the glass. when cooled properly, quickly, it produces the amorfus properties (randomness of a liquid). When not done properly it is crystalline. That is why it is a SUPERCOOLED LIQUID\> My own words but taken from THE VOLUME LIBRARY The Southwestern company Nashville Tennessee ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2000, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/31 "2000-02-16T22:55:00Z")
And another thing…The difference is it is solid not “A SOLID” am I talking to myself? DE do DE do DE do do do Dah ---
**Author:** ![skwyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@skwyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skwyd)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/32 "2000-02-17T03:23:00Z")
I have read that some very old panes of glass are measureable thicker at the base than at the top due to the glass “flowing” downward. Most of these panes were in desert homes built in the mid-1800’s in areas like arizona and parts of california. Skwyd \> 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/33 "2000-02-17T15:57:00Z")
Really? then really ancient glass must have “Melted” into a big gob by now. NOT!!! ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/34 "2000-02-17T16:32:00Z")
Honestly tho Ive heard that the older glass gets the harder it gets older. I know i have not had much luck cutting old glass. perhaps it is turning crystaline? which would mean that the molucles ar rearanging themselves. Movement? ---
**Author:** ![falcon2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dbc845/32.png) [@falcon2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/falcon2)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/35 "2000-02-17T19:42:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I was being conservative by a margin of 100 to 1 Reminds me of a “science” show I caught on the discovery channel where the host enthusiasticly asserted (in concurence with an the Arny movie “Eraser”) that rail gun fire shots as “nearly the speed of light.” An actual mechee came on and agreed, clarifying the speed to 4700 m/s… I guess he was just being conservative by a margin of 60,000 to 1. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/36 "2000-02-17T19:58:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by skwyd: > \*\*I have read that some very old panes of glass are measureable thicker at the base than at the top due to the glass “flowing” downward. Most of these panes were in desert homes built in the mid-1800’s in areas like arizona and parts of california. > > Skwyd \> :)\*\* _Sigh_ Did you not read the post **5** posts before you by John W. Kennedy? ---
**Author:** ![austin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/77aa72/32.png) [@austin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/austin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/37 "2000-02-17T20:50:00Z")
In “Materials of Industry” class in high school during the early '70’s, I was taught that glass was indeed a liquid. Having read all of the previous postings, as well as the urban legends link (and Cecil’s column), I now have some new perspectives. But I was also taught that before the de- velopment of synthetic plastics, there was a category of materials known as “plastics”. This category was identified in the latter 19th century, and included rubber, glass, and even shellac! Fiberglass is most cer- tainly a plastic, but it is the result of re-processing glass. Does anyone agree or disagree that glass is a plastic? ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/38 "2000-02-17T21:44:00Z")
glass is not plastic. Fiberglass is also known as spun glass I believe that it is heated to melting point and then spun to create fibers. they now use plastic in glass don’t know how that works .I woudd think that the high temp needed for glass melting would destroy any plastic ---
**Author:** ![frolix8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@frolix8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frolix8)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/39 "2000-02-17T22:54:00Z")
Well, since this thread is still active I might as well throw in this: [http://www.sciam.com/askexpert/physics/physics12.html](http://www.sciam.com/askexpert/physics/physics12.html) It claims the relaxation time of window glass is well beyond the geologic scale. Fiberglass is glass fibers embedded in plastic, it is a composite material. Car windshields are made with 2 pieces of glass with a plastic layer between them, a laminate. ---
**Author:** ![colton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@colton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colton)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821/40 "2000-02-18T00:04:00Z")
In Cecil’s recent column (2/11) he discusses glass being solid or liquid. In his mind, the difference is that “glass flows”. That’s a somewhat imprecise definition. Alternatively, in my solid state physics class at UC Berkeley, we learned that a useful way of defining a solid is a substance which will resist a shear stress. By that definition, glass, which will break when sheared, is obviously a solid. John [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glass-what-the-hell-is-it/821.md?page=3)