Glass is liquid at normal temperature?

Many of us have heard the news: Medieval cathedrals possess glass (also known as glass) windows at the bottom of the thicker than the top. This phenomenon is explained by glass being a liquid at room temperature and over the centuries, it flows slowly downwards.

Recently, however, scientists have tested a sample of Dominica's 20 million-year-old amber, a natural form of glass . They found that the structure of the amber was unchanged because of stress or heat more than a newer counterpart.

The famous northern rose window of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. (Photo: Shutterstock)

This reminds a physical lesson that the difference between solids and liquids is related to molecular structure. Solids often have molecules arranged in a crystal structure. When the solid is heated, its molecules fluctuate until the solid reaches its melting temperature and its crystal structure breaks down.

Liquid becomes solid when they lose enough heat. Sometimes, a liquid is "slow" if it is still liquid when it passes its normal freezing point.

After studying the glass windows of the Medieval cathedral, some experts claimed, glass was a slow-liquid liquid because it was solid but still flowing.

In fact, glass is not merely a liquid or solid but in an interference state called "amorphous solid".

Because glass is an amorphous solid, "the window glass of temples at room temperature will take longer than things around to re-arrange themselves as if it seems to melt , " according to the Faculty Association. study America.

Researchers found that even much older ancient glass artifacts found in ancient Roman or Egyptian ruins did not show any signs of melting over the centuries.

Glass windows in the medieval cathedral are thick and thin at different points due to manipulation, not because glass is liquid. Artisans created them by blowing cylindrical glass tubes, then rolling flat into glass panels. The flat rolling process is often irregular and the thicker part is always installed at the bottom of the window.