Glass Solid or Liquid
Is glass a solid or a liquid "The idea that glass is a fluid is a very widespread myth." (Yvonne Stokes:1999,Discover Magazine) This myth has survived for centuries because glass is such a confusing matter which cannot be compared to the three ordinary kinds of matter described in our particle theory of matter. Gasses contain free flowing molecules which are much further apart then liquids and gasses which removes the possibility of glass being a gas. A liquid however contains tighter bound molecules which a free to move past each other but still held together. Lastly there a solids which are molecules formed in a rigid formation which have a very strong attraction with repeating crystals and can only move in vibrations. Glass is none of the above, it is rigid like a solid, but its molecules are not arranged with repeating crystals which makes it amorphous like a liquid. "If you could preserve a window long enough, it might become a rigid puddle on the floor" (Ediger:1999,Discover Magazine)
Glass can be classified as a solid as it is rigid and has a constant volume and shape. Glass looks, feels and works like a solid but it is not. Glass is formed when certain liquids are frozen or quenched before it reaches its equilibrium and therefore its molecules are packed together. This means that they have a short ranged order but not a long ranged order. This is why they cannot be classified as a solid as solids have a long ranged and a short ranged order. Liquids however have a short ranged order but not a long ranged order.
In conclusion glasses are in fact amorphous solids. This means that such materials could be either solid or liquid, and this distinction is essentially simply one of timescale. A material is a solid when there is no observable long-range order. (Elliot:1994, p75-76)
Bibliography
Neumann, F. (1996). Standard Test Method for Determining Whether a Material Is a Liquid or a Solid. In ASTM, Annual Book of American Society for Testing Material
Glass can be classified as a solid as it is rigid and has a constant volume and shape. Glass looks, feels and works like a solid but it is not. Glass is formed when certain liquids are frozen or quenched before it reaches its equilibrium and therefore its molecules are packed together. This means that they have a short ranged order but not a long ranged order. This is why they cannot be classified as a solid as solids have a long ranged and a short ranged order. Liquids however have a short ranged order but not a long ranged order.
In conclusion glasses are in fact amorphous solids. This means that such materials could be either solid or liquid, and this distinction is essentially simply one of timescale. A material is a solid when there is no observable long-range order. (Elliot:1994, p75-76)
Bibliography
Neumann, F. (1996). Standard Test Method for Determining Whether a Material Is a Liquid or a Solid. In ASTM, Annual Book of American Society for Testing Material
Bibliography: Neumann, F. (1996). Standard Test Method for Determining Whether a Material Is a Liquid or a Solid. In ASTM, Annual Book of American Society for Testing Material Standards (pp. 500-501). West Conshohocken, PA. Kunzig, R. (1999, October Edition). The Physics of Glass. Discover Magazine . Famelab, F. (Director). (2009). Is Glass a liquid or a solid Therapeutic uses of hydrogen peroxide