🚀 go-pugleaf

Re: glass
In Queensland, particularly in the north and west where 
very hot summers can be experienced for long periods of
time say 9 months per annum, glass windows would be inverted
by the graziers or his employees at regular intervals of 
about 5 years. The suggestion that glass windows take 
incredibly long periods of time is not in any way true.

In polymer chemistry, one speaks about the glass transition 
temperature whereone observes a transition from an amorphous
state to a crystalline phase as is evidenced by xray 
crystallography. I would point out that the term glass refers
to ANY noncrystalline solid and may include inorganic glasses
which are not based on SiO4 units and may include metals, 
ceramic composites, as well as organic glasses.There are also
examples of mineralogical glasses.

a more imortant consideration about the properties of glass
is the use of glass for long term storeage. Do the chemicals
contained in the glass react with the surface. Does the 
chemicals extract eg metals out of the glass: eg putting wine,
whiskey etc in crystal glass is not a good idea since the wine will
leach the lead or other metals (Na) out of the glass.Does glass
corrode? ans: yes but at a kinetically slow rate but it is 
measureable. 

What about the use of glass for the storeage of both high and
low level nuclear waste? Does it work? Jugdging from what I 
have written in the previous paragraph probably not : Are 
scientists not exploring the use of glass ( and also cement
as a matter of interest) for the storage of nuclear waste.

Best wishes
Ray Frost
School of Chemistry
QUT, Brisbane Qld Australia
frost@qut.edu.au