I’m very tired. Please help me understand this.
In: Other
Rocks consist of lots of different minerals, most of which don’t make good glass. Sand consists mainly of quartz, which does make good glass. And not all sand will work: Glass makers need to find sand that’s almost pure quartz, and filter out the other stuff.
We can, it’s just a lot easier to control the process if we use lots of tiny rocks rather than one large one. To make glass that is useful (ie transparent and with the right properties), we need to use ingredients of exactly the right kind, and not all rocks, nor all sand, is suitable. It is easier with sand to make sure what you are putting into the mixture to make the glass is going to have the right composition to get the kind of glass you want out of it.
both are possible but only the former is economically feasible i.e. we CAN turn big rocks into glass.
What do you think sand is? It’s the result of those big rocks being crushed and abraded and sorted until what you have is rather pure quartz, because it’s much harder than the other minerals in the rock. We can do the same thing industrially, but there’s little point when there’s still plenty of glass-grade quartz left. Not to mention the huge amounts of waste that has no particularly productive use given the bulk.
Check out “How to Make Everything” on YouTube and search for “glass”. There are a few videos on the process of glass making, problems trying to make glass from scratch, etc.
You won’t be turning just any sand into glass. You certainly won’t be turning it into *clear* glass.
The ‘tiny rocks’ that can be made into glass are already transparent. Melting them together gets rid of voids and makes the bulk substance transparent.
It has to do with the composition of the sand (silica). Rocks tend to contain mainly quartz and feldspar.
Latest Answers