Page 18 - The Science of Glass
P. 18

Different types of glass are used in scientific research.  Some glass is made
               from quartz.  Quartz is a mineral.  Glass made from quartz is very strong.  It
               is used to make jars and tubes used for experiments.  It has also been used
               for windows on spacecraft.

                 Another type of glass is actinic glass.  It is dark brown or amber in color.
               It protects materials that are sensitive to light.  Fritted glass is also used.  This
               glass is porous.  Gas or liquid can pass through it.  Fritted glass is used to
               filter solid particles from liquids.  Some scientists use siliconized glass.  This
               type of glass has been treated to stop material from sticking to it.  This makes
               cleaning up after an experiment easy.

                 Sometimes, scientists need new types of glass to solve problems.  So, they
               invent their own!  For example, nuclear radiation causes most glass to turn
               brown.  This was a problem in nuclear experiments.  Scientists developed
               a glass that doesn’t turn brown.  This glass has been used for observation
               windows in nuclear reactor plants.


                 Scientists at the Corning Glass Works laboratory in New York invented
               photochromic glass in the 1960s.  Photochromic means that something
               changes color in response to light.  Photochromic glass contains tiny crystals.
               These crystals clump together when light hits them.  This glass is used in
               eyeglasses to make them turn dark in the sun.








                                                                    actinic glass jar

















         16          quartz crystals
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