View Single Post
  #37 (permalink)  
Old 07-July-2008, 08:09 PM
Swift's Avatar
Swift Swift is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: The beautiful north coast (Ohio)
Posts: 11,858
Default

By the way, if anyone is still interested in the state of glass debate, I found this detailed discussion on a Univ. of California - Riverside website. Worth reading for the details, but the conclusion is below.
Quote:
Conclusion

There is no clear answer to the question "Is glass solid or liquid?". In terms of molecular dynamics and thermodynamics it is possible to justify various different views that it is a highly viscous liquid, an amorphous solid, or simply that glass is another state of matter which is neither liquid nor solid. The difference is semantic. In terms of its material properties we can do little better. There is no clear definition of the distinction between solids and highly viscous liquids. All such phases or states of matter are idealisations of real material properties. Nevertheless, from a more common sense point of view, glass should be considered a solid since it is rigid according to everyday experience. The use of the term "supercooled liquid" to describe glass still persists, but is considered by many to be an unfortunate misnomer that should be avoided. In any case, claims that glass panes in old windows have deformed due to glass flow have never been substantiated. Examples of Roman glassware and calculations based on measurements of glass visco-properties indicate that these claims cannot be true. The observed features are more easily explained as a result of the imperfect methods used to make glass window panes before the float glass process was invented.
__________________
At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
Reply With Quote