Sure you have learnt about the 3 states of matter and glass is definitely a solid right? Or perhaps you have played Minecraft and think you know everything about glass such as how it is made from heating up sand in a furnace. But the truth is that we do not actually know whether glass is solid or liquid!
(If the Red house is made of red bricks, what is the Greenhouse made of?)
To understand this weird problem, you have to know what molecules are. Basically, molecules are the smallest unit of a chemical compound such as water and glass. Just like how cells are the smallest unit of an organism! When water freezes, all the molecules freeze. This is why we are able to declare that Ice is a solid. But it is a little bit tricky when it comes to glass.
(For some reason it looks really satisfying to be cutting glass with scissors!)
The molecules of glass do not all become solid. When a glass molecule becomes a solid, the nearby molecules also become a solid. However, the molecules that are further away do not. Because of this, it is possible that there are some molecules in a piece of glass that is not solid-like. Some scientists believe that glass can actually be a very slow moving liquid. Such a liquid is called a viscous liquid. Have you poured honey out of a bottle? That is because honey is viscous. Lava is also a good example of a viscous liquid. It is possible that glass is also a viscous liquid except it flows way slower than honey or lava! This means that it will take a very long time to observe the glass and determine if it is liquid or solid.
(Ahhh…look at the lava slowly engulfing the Monster Energy Drink)
Here is a video of a silly putty that looks like glass! It looks super fun to play with!
What do you think? Do you think glass is a liquid? Or do you think it is a solid?
Sources:
http://www.iflscience.com/chemistry/glass-solid-or-liquid
http://theconversation.com/is-glass-a-solid-or-a-liquid-36615
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