i recently bought a VERY old house and one of the windows has a patch where it looks melted. i know glass is a fluid because of its structure. But is it possible that it was weaker in this area and flowed over a long period of time or was it just made that way?
2007-01-10 17:24:05 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
Yes. I don't know about the "melted" part on your window, but I understand that many windows of old buildings are thicker at the bottom than the top because the glass has flowed.
2007-01-10 17:27:28 · answer #1 · answered by drshorty 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's possible that the window was made that way, since glass-making was once an artisan trade, but if your house is more than a hundred years old, chances are it wasn't. Glass is NOT a solid. It only appears that way to us because it flows so incredibly slowly. In fact, the only way we notice it is in very old buildings. With very precise calipers, you can measure that the glass is thicker at the bottom of the window than it is at the top, because gravity has pulled it downward over time. More likely than not, this particular window had a bubble or thinner spot in it when it was made, causing it to 'slide' a little faster than the others, just like you thought.
2007-01-10 17:46:21 · answer #2 · answered by trai 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have been told that the answer is yes. That in old buildings the windows are thicker at the bottom than at the top, due to a slow flowing. I don't know about weaker areas.
2007-01-10 17:27:52 · answer #3 · answered by rscanner 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Old window glass was made by heating it up and rolling a rolling pin over it.The process being far from perfect,a piece of(not so hot) glass fell into it as it was pressed. FM I see it all the time. To get that type of glass today, you have to get it out of Mexico, where they still use that process. A new clear glass pane stands out and looks odd.
2007-01-10 17:39:58 · answer #4 · answered by lance 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Glass flows when it's very hot, yes. Old window glass as you speak of was made unevenly. Sometimes you find incredible bows in them. It's just the manufacturing style of the peroid.
2007-01-10 17:28:17 · answer #5 · answered by James M 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
yes, glass does flow.. its just an extremely viscous fluid. it should flow evenly though, not leave patches.. it should just be thicker at the bottom of the window than the top
2007-01-10 17:40:29 · answer #6 · answered by Tim D 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's a fluid and it can flow. Especially when it's heated to extremely high temperatures. Look at how glass blowers make their art.
2007-01-10 17:27:07 · answer #7 · answered by Mickey Mouse Spears 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Either hypotheses are possible. My guess would be that it was made that way, probably a quick replacement window. But the other possibility still stands.
2007-01-10 17:27:49 · answer #8 · answered by snakker2k 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes it does if you have ever seen old glass it is wavey and has ripples in it that is because it is a super slow moving fluid.
2007-01-10 17:27:48 · answer #9 · answered by Travis G 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, glass is a flowing liquid.
2007-01-10 17:31:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋