Glass is the oldest artifact found and used by man. It was found, because it was not a man who invented and made the first glass. Most likely, the first appeared from volcanic lava many millions of years ago. This substance is now called obsidian.
People, gradually learning nature, noticed that if you mix natural soda with sand and heat, a transparent substance appears. So they learned what glass consists of. At least that is how the ancient Greek encyclopedist Pliny described this process. And the story began of people using this product, which has become completely indispensable in the life of mankind today.
But there is another theory that explains what glass is made of. Some scholars believe that the vitreous material appeared as a by-product in firing clay products or smelting copper.
This wonderful product has played an outstanding role in the life of mankind. It is impossible to overestimate its significance. The production of glass can be compared with such discoveries of man as the invention of the wheel and the extraction of fire. Even in ancient Egypt, various ornaments were made from this substance, they glazed dishes, then learned how to make containers for storing various liquids.
Since the 13th century, glass production has increased dramatically. The center of its manufacture was Venice. Masters from this city managed to learn the secrets of oriental glass production, and they developed and improved the technology for its creation. Glassmakers were able to achieve the transparency of glass by adding various impurities to it, they learned how to make a variety of dishes from it, unusually elegant and thin. It cost a lot of money. In general, then products from it were used more as jewelry and luxury goods, works of art. The glassmakers of Venice paid for these works with their freedom, imprisoned on the island of Murano, they learned how to make such products that the glory of Murano glass spread throughout the world.
Time passed, and people found other uses for this product. Glass manufacturing technology has been improved. Covering one side of the product with a reflective layer, an amalgam, they came up with a mirror. Glass began to be used in construction, primarily in the creation of temples and palaces. Having learned how to make glass colored, the craftsmen began to make stained glass and windows of remarkable beauty. Over time, glass began to be used in science. People learned that it can scatter and concentrate light - they invented magnifying glasses by making a microscope and telescope. These inventions made a giant step in the development of the natural sciences - biology, astronomy, physics, and medicine. Without this product, scientific activity in virtually no scientific field is absolutely impossible.
What is glass made of? As in previous times, it is made of sand. The fact is that sand consists largely of silicon dioxide existing in it in quartz crystals. It heats and melts. If it is quickly cooled, then the minerals do not have time to form crystals, which makes them transparent. If you want the product to be colored, various metal oxides are added to it. What is glass made of so that it is as transparent as possible? To do this, clean the sand so that it would consist of almost one quartz.
Today there are many processing methods, after which a product with a wide variety of properties is obtained, from reinforced and hardened to armored and mirror. What are glass made of today? The foundation remains the same - simple sand. And what is encouraging is that of what glass is made on planet Earth - a huge amount, and we are not threatened with the disappearance of this natural resource over time.