I dont have my old fluid mechanics texts. Is it because glass is compressible?
2006-08-11 15:28:20 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
Glasses are amorphous solids. There is a fundamental structural divide between amorphous solids (including glasses) and crystalline solids. Structurally, glasses are similar to liquids, but that doesn't mean they are liquid. It is possible that the "glass is a liquid" urban legend originated with a misreading of a German treatise on glass thermodynamics.
2006-08-11 15:38:37 · answer #1 · answered by jennifersuem 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you considre glass a fluid (@STP) than you must considre alot of other solids (@STP) as fluids as well. I think what you mean is that glass is a fluid at and beyond a certain temperature, as is the case with most solid compounds.
BTW, to all you non-believers, glass does "drip" but extremely slowly.
Using this same logic you could call silly puddy a fluid.
2006-08-11 23:23:27 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. You can't compress liquids. It's because the arrangement of the molecules allows them to slide past each other.
Glass does actually flow like a liquid; it's just incredibly slow, so you can't really watch it happen. If you go to somewhere with very old stained glass windows, however, you can see the evidence that it has dripped.
2006-08-11 23:01:39 · answer #3 · answered by Thinker 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you look at an old, antique window pane you will see noticable distortion and "runs" in the lower sections of the glass. The glass is actually settling to the lowest portion - just as a liquid would. (Liquids - incl. glass - are not compressable)
2006-08-11 22:37:14 · answer #4 · answered by LeAnne 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yeh, glass and ice are both fluids! Give me a drag off of what you are smoking!
2006-08-12 05:40:20 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Glass is a solid. It is an 'urban myth' that it is a fluid.
2006-08-11 22:33:05 · answer #6 · answered by Joe Rockhead 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Isn't THAT cool?! Glass actually FLOWS (in slow motion- of course!). Maybe it has to do with its molecular structure, I don't remember... It's one of the many qualities that makes glass so interesting & unique.
2006-08-11 22:38:30 · answer #7 · answered by Joseph, II 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It flows, given enough time. Held upright glass will thin at the top, thicken on the bottom, depending on mass. They observed this, on an old glass-walled building.
OOPS Glass is a solid, I stand corrected see reference below;
http://dwb.unl.edu/Teacher/NSF/C01/C01Links/www.ualberta.ca/~bderksen/florin.html
2006-08-11 22:32:40 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Not a running liquid, but a liquid just the same. Heat it enough and it will run. It has a scientific name of which I cant be sure. But you can see it "run" in windows of old houses.
2006-08-11 22:34:35 · answer #9 · answered by orion_1812@yahoo.com 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
It isn't and liquids aren't usually compressible
2006-08-11 22:30:59 · answer #10 · answered by Bill 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋