Glass Making Process.

Glass, the material we see everyday and has unnumbered uses, is formed by a mix of melted chemicals which will be rapidly cooled later and turn into a solid material. The most common main ingredient in glass-making is silica (SiO₂). Soda (sodium carbonate, Na₂CO₃) and lime (calcium oxide, CaO) are the additional ingredients added to make the glass-making process easier. Soda lowers the melting temperature of the silica from 2300 ˚C to 1500 ˚C and lime was added to improve the glass’ endurance, because soda can make the glass becomes water soluble. These three ingredients are melted inside a furnace at temperatures up to 1675°C to form a molten glass. The process of shaping the molten glass into the final product of glass can be done in several ways. For example the in the process to make plate glass, the molten glass is put on an iron bed and rolled into sheets by an iron roller, then trimmed to remove any dirt or spoilt glass. Another example is the making of bottle glass which uses a bottle-shaped template and removable mould to give shape to the bottle.