Glass is an inorganic isotropic substance, a material known and used
since ancient times. There is glass in its natural form, in the form of
minerals (obsidian - volcanic glass), but in practice, it is most often found
as a product of glassmaking - one of the oldest technologies in the material
culture of mankind.
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| Tempered Glass |
From the point of view of the structure, glass is an amorphous substance
belonging to the solid state / liquid state.
In practice, there are a huge number of glass modifications, implying a
lot of various utilitarian features. They differ in composition, structure,
chemical and physical properties.
Regardless of the chemical composition and temperature range of
solidification, glass has the physicomechanical properties of a solid and a
highly viscous liquid. This means that glass flows under normal conditions,
retaining the ability of a reversible transition from a liquid to a glassy
state. However, the viscosity of glass at room temperature is so great that the
fluidity of glass has no practical significance: it does not manifest itself in
any noticeable way over time periods of tens and hundreds of years.
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| Frosted Glass Doors |
At present, glass materials of an extremely wide, truly universal range
of application have been developed. The inherent properties of glass, such as
transparency, reflectivity, resistance to aggressive media, beauty and many
others, as well as synthesized qualities not typical of glass (for example,
heat resistance, strength, bioactivity, controlled conductivity, etc.) do for
it.