Marking Glass

The permanent marks on glassware are made of a special type of a glass-ceramic that fuses onto glass surfaces above 500°C. They are applied either by a silkscreening process or by decal. Ceramic decals are permanent and will resist most chemical attack. They are susceptible to chemical attack by alkalis and hydrofluoric and perchloric acid, all of which can remove the markings. 

Old glassware is used to provide a frosted circular spot for marking the glass. This frosted zone was easier to write on than the ceramic spot, but cost more to manufacture than simply adding a ceramic decal spot as part of the ceramic numbering that is placed on already. The frosting added one more step to the manufacturing process, and therefore it was phased out. 

The ceramic white dot on most glassware can be written on by pencils for identification. Although it is not easy to write on glass, there are five techniques that allow one to identify and mark on glass  

Alcohol-based pens. These pens, usually fiber-tipped, can write on 

Waxed pencil. Like a crayon, waxed pencils can easily write on glass 

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Massglas, n. measuring glass, marked glass vessel. 

Figure 4.2 Photograph of windows with one ordinary window glass (left) and marked glass (right). (Copyright Saint Gobain.)...

A 1.3.4 Vibrator, electric. The type of tungsten carbide tipped vibrating pencil used for marking glass is satisfactory if a rubber stopper is slipped over the tip. 

Silanes are very sensitive to attack by alkalis and will even react with water made alkaline by contact with glass this reaction is in marked contrast to the reactions shown by alkanes. Unlike alkanes, silanes are found to have marked reducing properties and will reduce, for example, potassium manganate(VII) to manganeseflV) oxide, and iron(III) to iron(II). 

Bromine. Slip the glass cover of a jar momentarily aside, add 2-3 ml. of bromine water, replace the cover and shake the contents of the jar vigorously. Note that the bromine is absorbed only very slowly, in marked contrast to the rapid absorption by ethylene. This slow reaction with bromine water is also in marked contrast to the action of chlorine water, which unites with acetylene with explosive violence. (Therefore do not attempt this test with chlorine or chlorine water.)... 

The density determination may be carried out at the temperature of the laboratory. The liquid should stand for at least one hour and a thermometer placed either in the liquid (if practicable) or in its immediate vicinity. It is usually better to conduct the measurement at a temperature of 20° or 25° throughout this volume a standard temperature of 20° will be adopted. To determine the density of a liquid at 20°, a clean, corked test-tube containing about 5 ml. of toe liquid is immersed for about three-quarters of its length in a water thermostat at 20° for about 2 hours. An empty test-tube and a shallow beaker (e.g., a Baco beaker) are also supported in the thermostat so that only the rims protrude above the surface of the water the pycnometer is supported by its capillary arms on the rim of the test-tube, and the small crucible is placed in the beaker, which is covered with a clock glass. When the liquid has acquired the temperature of the thermostat, the small crucible is removed, charged with the liquid, the pycnometer rapidly filled and adjusted to the mark. With practice, the whole operation can be completed in about half a minute. The error introduced if the temperature of the laboratory differs by as much as 10° from that of the thermostat does not exceed 1 mg. if the temperature of the laboratory is adjusted so that it does not differ by more than 1-2° from 20°, the error is negligible. The weight of the empty pycnometer and also filled with distilled (preferably conductivity) water at 20° should also be determined. The density of the liquid can then be computed. 

Three important precautions are needed when working with pipets and volumetric flasks. First, the volume delivered by a pipet or contained by a volumetric flask assumes that the glassware is clean. Dirt and grease on the inner glass surface prevents liquids from draining evenly, leaving droplets of the liquid on the container s walls. For a pipet this means that the delivered volume is less than the calibrated volume, whereas drops of liquid above the calibration mark mean that a volumetric flask contains more than its calibrated volume. Commercially available cleaning solutions can be used to clean pipets and volumetric flasks. 

Crystallization. Acidified aluminum sulfate solutions can be supercooled 10 °C or more below the saturation point. However, once nucleation begins, the crystallization rate is rapid and the supersaturated solution sets up. The onset of nucleation in a gentiy stirred supersaturated solution is marked by the appearance of silky, curling streamers of microscopic nuclei resulting from orientation effects of hydraulic currents on the thin, platelike crystals. Without agitation, nucleation in an acidified solution, in glass tubes, can yield extended crystalline membranes of such thinness to exhibit colors resulting from optical interference. 

The Cannon-Fenske viscometer (Fig. 24b) is excellent for general use. A long capillary and small upper reservoir result in a small kinetic energy correction the large diameter of the lower reservoir minimises head errors. Because the upper and lower bulbs He on the same vertical axis, variations in the head are minimal even if the viscometer is used in positions that are not perfecdy vertical. A reverse-flow Cannon-Fen ske viscometer is used for opaque hquids. In this type of viscometer the Hquid flows upward past the timing marks, rather than downward as in the normal direct-flow instmment. Thus the position of the meniscus is not obscured by the film of Hquid on the glass wall. 

The production of vitreous siUca from chemical precursors was first described in patents filed in 1934, including a fabrication method in which fine, high purity powders were produced by decomposing silanes (39). Forms were then cast from aqueous sHps. More importantiy, a dame hydrolysis process which used SiCl as the chemical precursor was described (40). This latter approach led to a marked improvement in glass purity and served as the basis for the processes used in the 1990s to make synthetic vitreous siUca. 

These discoveries were followed by two key publications describing the work that marked the beginning of the commercial siUcone industry (18,19). Production increased rapidly with the need for siUcones in World War II. In 1943, the Dow Corning Corp. was formed in Midland, Michigan, as a joint venture between Corning Glass and Dow Chemical. In 1947 GE opened a plant in Waterford, New York, for manufacture of siUcones, and in 1949 Union Carbide opened a siUcone manufacturing plant in Tonawanda, New York. 

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