How come acid doesn’t eat through glass like it does everything else?

Question

How come acid doesn’t eat through glass like it does everything else?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

It does. [Etched glass](https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=etched+glass) is very common, and is generally made by using acid to eat away at the glass, while using a stencil to mask the design. For this application, they use an[ acid in cream form](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=glass+etching+cream) to make application easier. Large cities actually often have a ban against selling that stuff to minors, because graffiti writers use it to [put their tag on windows](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Etching_tag_chicago.jpg), which is permanent and requires replacing the whole pane of glass to remove.