SafekipediaList of physical properties of glass
Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience
This is a list of some important physical properties of common glasses. The information comes from a large study, unless stated otherwise. For special types of glass like fused silica (also called quartz glass) and germania glass, the properties are taken from the SciGlass glass database. This database finds the arithmetic mean of results from many different experiments.
The list here is not complete, but it includes many useful facts about how different glasses behave in various situations. These properties help scientists and engineers choose the right glass for different uses, like windows, lenses, or even special tools.
| Properties | Soda–lime glass (for containers) | Borosilicate (low expansion, similar to Pyrex, Duran) | Glass wool (for thermal insulation) | Special optical glass (similar to Lead crystal) | Fused silica | Germania glass | Germanium selenide glass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical composition, wt% | 74 SiO2, 13 Na2O, 10.5 CaO, 1.3 Al2O3, 0.3 K2O, 0.2 SO3, 0.2 MgO, 0.01 TiO2, 0.04 Fe2O3 | 81 SiO2, 12.5 B2O3, 4 Na2O, 2.2 Al2O3, 0.02 CaO, 0.06 K2O | 63 SiO2, 16 Na2O, 8 CaO, 3.3 B2O3, 5 Al2O3, 3.5 MgO, 0.8 K2O, 0.3 Fe2O3, 0.2 SO3 | 41.2 SiO2, 34.1 PbO, 12.4 BaO, 6.3 ZnO, 3.0 K2O, 2.5 CaO, 0.35 Sb2O3, 0.2 As2O3 | SiO2 | GeO2 | GeSe2 |
| Viscosity log(η, Pa·s) = A + B / (T in °C - To) | 550–1450 °C: A = -2.309 B = 3922 To = 291 | 550–1450 °C: A = -2.834 B = 6668 To = 108 | 550–1400 °C: A = -2.323 B = 3232 To = 318 | 500–690 °C: A = -35.59 B = 60930 To = -741 | 1140–2320 °C: A = -7.766 B = 27913 To = -271.7 | 515–1540 °C: A = -11.044 B = 30979 To = −837 | |
| Glass transition temperature, Tg, °C | 573 | 536 | 551 | ~540 | 1140 | 526 ± 27 | 395 |
| Coefficient of thermal expansion, ppm/K, ~100–300 °C | 9 | 3.5 | 10 | 7 | 0.55 | 7.3 | |
| Density at 20 °C, [g/cm3], x1000 to get [kg/m3] | 2.52 | 2.235 | 2.550 | 3.86 | 2.203 | 3.65 | 4.16 |
| Refractive index nD at 20 °C | 1.518 | 1.473 | 1.531 | 1.650 | 1.459 | 1.608 | 1.7 |
| Dispersion at 20 °C, 104×(nF - nC) | 86.7 | 72.3 | 89.5 | 169 | 67.8 | 145 | |
| Young's modulus at 20 °C, GPa | 72 | 65 | 75 | 67 | 72 | 43.3 | |
| Shear modulus at 20 °C, GPa | 29.8 | 28.2 | 26.8 | 31.3 | |||
| Liquidus temperature, °C | 1040 | 1070 | 1715 | 1115 | |||
| Heat capacity at 20 °C, J/(mol·K) | 49 | 50 | 50 | 51 | 44 | 52 | |
| Surface tension, at ~1300 °C, mJ/m2 | 315 | 370 | 290 | ||||
| Chemical durability, Hydrolytic class, after ISO 719 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
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