What is glass and what is its composition?

 
Many people know glass, but some people know it is just a hard, transparent thing that can be
used for making windows, doors, walls, or the things that we use for our daily lives. But for some
reason, glass is more than what we think. Glass is the oldest synthetic material used for building
construction. It is used since ancient time and had exhibit an achievement to human civilization.
Also, glass had been emerging from time to time and became the most versatile material in the
modern times. There's a lot of different kinds of glass and a lot of different components. We've
come to the point that glass made such a huge difference in our world, especially in
Architecture. It is said that glass is non-crystalline that makes it to rise its transparency. Before
we use glass in our design, or for our daily living we must know its history and how its
components evolved from time to time. 5000 years ago, glass is known in Egypt, and its
components consists of sand, lime and soda ash. In addition, in 2500 BC the earliest man-made
glass was used to glaze stone and beads and later to make to a glass bead. Many years had
passed, glass is rapidly evolving in 1200 BC Medieval glass is made up of sand and wood ash
or what we called potash. The use of potash is, it is a stabilizer that makes glass strong and
water resistant. Medieval glass comes with a various color. It is used to the window of the
churches and we all know the glass from churches is very colorful. There’s red, blue, and green.
To make the different kinds of colors of the glass the mixture of sand and potash is melted to a
liquid and while it is still molten by adding cobalt, we will come up to a blue color. Then when we
add copper it will produce colors blue or red. But when we add either iron or chromium it’s result
will be color green. After so many inventions and experiments the glass is being recycled. It is
very shocking because a lot of people know that when it is broken, we cannot do anything from
it. But it can be a source of change, it can be recycled and from the recent experiment glass
waste can be used as a lightweight aggregate in concrete. It is also helping to reduce the
carbon dioxide emission which is great for our mother earth. While the excess recycled glass
can be used for making some decorative paving surfaces like what we do in the façade of our
houses.
What are the different types of glass, how are they formed and what are their function?
 There’s a lot of different glass invented in our world, they have they’re differently unique
uses. Some are durable and some are easy to break. Some is for small spaces and some
are for big spaces. Here are some of the following glasses that we have now; Float glass is
characterized by its smoothness and distortion-free, it can be used for making many window
applications. It is the product of melting process wherein recycled lass, silica sand, lime and
potash are melted in a furnace and floated onto bed in molten tin. Glass block is a type of
glass that is not like the ordinary glass that we always see. It is like size that are about
115,190,240- and 300-mm square with the thickness of 80 and 100 mm. It usually used it
making wall fabrications especially in bathrooms, can be a decorative window and
sometimes it can be used for floorings. Glass paver is used as floorings, creating
architectural features like archways etc. Glass pavers is more complex than glass block. In
the matter of installation, it requires reinforced concrete construction. Its standard size is
120, 150, and 190 mm square, with a depth of 55,60, 80, mm for a single layer shell and for
the double layer shell is 80, 100 and 160 mm. Cellular or Foamed Glass is produced from a
reaction between glass and carbon at high temperatures. It is impermeable, rigid and well-
insulating. The thermal conductivity of foam glass being low, it has a better insulation
capacity. Hence, it can be used as a thermal insulator. In addition to that, foam glass also
has high compressive strength, thereby making the material suitable for the insulation of flat
roofs which are covered with bitumen or other heavy substances. Traditional blown and
draw glasses is used for making vases, cup and other things that we can see in our house.
It comes with a variety of colors and its standard size are up to 1600 x 1200 mm but varies
thickness from 3 to 5 mm. Curved sheet glass is mostly used for interior spaces, elements of
the façade for both commercial and residential building also for the windows of the cars. It is
manufactured by heating annealed glass to approximately 600 degrees Celsius. Its standard
thick would be around 4 and 19 mm and it can be bent up to 3 x 4m or 2x5m. Self-Cleaning
Glass is a type that needs a minimal maintenance because its surface is designed to keep
itself free from the dirt. This glass is manufactured by photocatalytic; it absorbs UV Light but
with oxygen it cleanses the dirt from the window while hydrophilic, it causes rainwater to
spread out evenly through the window it become more like a big cloth. Clear white glass is
much better than standard float glass because light transmission is 2% greater. It can be
produced using a purified ingredient also, it is virtually colorless.
Patterned glass is generally available in thickness of 4 mm and 6 mm. The standard size
of the glass sheet is 2160 mm X 1650 mm. It is a decorative glass with patterns
imprinted on one face of the glass. It is used for partitions, doors, windows, table tops
etc. Screen-Printed glass is a special kind of decorative glass. It is made by imprinting
ceramic frit onto clear or tinted glass through heat-strengthening process. It is colorfast
and abrasion resistant. Decorative etched and sandblasted glass is used for doors,
windows or even wall because it can be as decorative as other glasses. But it does have
a low obscuration factor and should not be in high humidity areas because it causes the
temporary loss of patterns of the glasses. Decorative Colored glasses is more than of its
aesthetic, it is also more functional. It might be frosted, colored or textured glass in
doors, which can be found in residential as well as corporate buildings. Georgian wired
glasses are available in the sheet sizes up to 1985 x 3500 mm (cast) and 1985 x 3300
mm (polished). It is not considered to be a safety glass. it is glass manufactured with
wire mesh embedded into it to prevent it from shattering and breaking whilst also
increasing its fire rating. Toughened glass is a type of glass that is four times stronger
than standard annealed glass. It is also known as tempered glass. It cannot be break
easily. And when it is broken it will be shattered into a granule of glasses. It can be used
for floorings, tables etc.

Laminated glass used thick inter-layers it is made through pasting PVB (polyvinyl
butyral) resin glue film between two or more pieces of glass sheet, then heating,
pressing and bonding them together to create flat or curved compound glass product.
Laminated glass’ safety feature is extremely useful in areas that need high security plus
it is somewhat kind of bullet-proof. It can be used for commercial spaces that needs to
have high security. Fire resistant glass is made for it, hearing the word “fire resistant”