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How long can glass bottles survive in nature?
Glass bottles are very traditional industrial containers in my country. Some people have already started production in ancient times, but they are fragile, so there are very few complete glass containers that can be found in later generations， Glass product .
Its production process is not difficult. Engineers need to pulverize raw materials such as quartz sand and soda ash, dissolve them at high temperature and shape them, so that they can show a transparent texture.
Even today, the influx of various packaging materials into the market glass bottles still occupy an important position, which is enough to prove how much everyone loves this kind of packaging bottles.
However, some people have doubts about this. If there is no external interference, how long can a manufactured glass bottle exist in nature? Under what circumstances will the stability of glass be broken? Today we will discuss in detail.
Origin of glass products
Glass products have become very common in modern life. From the exterior windows of high-rise buildings to the marbles children play, glass can be seen everywhere. Do you know when glass was first used in household products? Scientists have discovered through archaeology that small glass beads have been unearthed in ancient Egyptian ruins as early as 4,000 years ago.
Even though 4,000 years have passed, the surface of these small glass beads is still as smooth as new, and time has not left any traces on it, at most it is more dust from history. This is enough to show that glass products are very difficult to decompose in nature. If there is no interference from foreign objects, it can easily be preserved in nature for 4,000 years, or even longer.
When ancient humans made glass, it was naturally not clear that it had such a long preservation value; in fact, they made glass out of an accident. About 4,000 years ago in the ancient Egyptian civilization, when the trade between city-states was prosperous, there was a merchant ship loaded with crystal ore called "natural soda" down the Mediterranean Sea.
But who knew that the tide was falling so fast that the merchant ship had no time to escape towards the depths of the ocean and was stranded near the beach. It is almost impossible for such a large boat to be propelled manually, and it can only be escaped by waiting for the boat to be fully submerged in the water when the tide is high the next day. During this period, the crew removed the ship's cauldron to make a fire for cooking, and some people took some ore from the commodity and built it into a base for the fire.
After the meal was full, the crew planned to take the cauldron and return to the ship to sleep, but at this time, everyone was surprised to find that the ore base used to burn the fire turned out to be crystal clear, and it looked extremely beautiful in the afterglow of the setting sun. Only later did everyone know that it was due to the chemical reaction between natural soda and quartz sand in the beach under the smelting of fire, which is the earliest source of glass in human history.
Since then, humans have mastered the refining method of glass. Quartz sand, borax, limestone, and some auxiliary materials are put into the fire to smelt, and translucent glass products can be produced. In the subsequent thousands of years of civilization changes, the composition of glass has never changed.
How to break the stability of glass composition?
Have you ever thought about why glass products from 4,000 years ago can be preserved to this day? Even if the bones will rot one day, why can glass not be affected by the external environment, and still appear in front of human beings brand new after 4,000 years? This has to do with its chemical composition.
If we look at the composition of glass with the eyes of modern science, we will find that it is a random amorphous solid; glass is made of silicon dioxide and other oxides fused at high temperature, which means that its internal atoms The structure does not have any periodicity, and the mixing of various elements will make its atomic arrangement complex and changeable.
However, further research by scientists found that there are also laws on this complex and changeable basis. Generally speaking, these atoms are not coordinated, but if they are concentrated on individuals, each atom has its own composition system. Basically, there is a silicon atom in the middle and four oxygen atoms around it, forming a very stable tetrahedral structure.
Based on this firm method, the chemical substances inside the glass are basically saturated, and it is basically difficult to chemically react with other surrounding substances. Let alone 4000 years, the glass can still continue to be preserved without force, whether it is wind or rain, or bacterial erosion has no effect on them.
Is there any way to break the stability of the molecules inside the glass? Have! Take the method of its birth as an example, the molecules inside the glass will change at a high temperature of about 600 degrees Celsius, and the solid glass will also be transformed into a liquid at this time, and the glass will naturally be completely destroyed from the inside out.
But the question is where to find ultra-high temperatures above 600 degrees in human society? Unless it is a volcanic eruption, this provides us with ideas for dealing with glass products, throwing them into active craters, and the high temperature inside the volcano can easily decompose glass products.
Secondly, it can also be treated with acidic oxides. The chemical composition of glass is very afraid of strong acids, and the same is true for strong alkalis. Whenever the surface of the glass touches these two components, its internal molecular structure will be corroded, and the glass will naturally be finished. . But we all know that these things are difficult to appear in nature, which is why the glass beads of ancient Egypt can be preserved to the present.
Epilogue
In fact, compared with serious environmental problems such as plastic pollution and sewage pollution, the impact of glass pollution on the natural environment is relatively small; the components of basic glass are non-toxic. Can easily destroy glass products.
It is as small as the force exerted by human beings and as large as the movement of the earth's plates. It is easy to grind the glass buried in the ground into powder, and then be absorbed by nature.
Or we can use the wind and the tidal force of the ocean to solve the problem of excess glass products. The large glass will become small glass under the erosion of sea water and wind, and the small glass will eventually become powder and integrate into the ecology of nature.
Its production process is not difficult. Engineers need to pulverize raw materials such as quartz sand and soda ash, dissolve them at high temperature and shape them, so that they can show a transparent texture.
Even today, the influx of various packaging materials into the market glass bottles still occupy an important position, which is enough to prove how much everyone loves this kind of packaging bottles.
However, some people have doubts about this. If there is no external interference, how long can a manufactured glass bottle exist in nature? Under what circumstances will the stability of glass be broken? Today we will discuss in detail.
Origin of glass products
Glass products have become very common in modern life. From the exterior windows of high-rise buildings to the marbles children play, glass can be seen everywhere. Do you know when glass was first used in household products? Scientists have discovered through archaeology that small glass beads have been unearthed in ancient Egyptian ruins as early as 4,000 years ago.
Even though 4,000 years have passed, the surface of these small glass beads is still as smooth as new, and time has not left any traces on it, at most it is more dust from history. This is enough to show that glass products are very difficult to decompose in nature. If there is no interference from foreign objects, it can easily be preserved in nature for 4,000 years, or even longer.
When ancient humans made glass, it was naturally not clear that it had such a long preservation value; in fact, they made glass out of an accident. About 4,000 years ago in the ancient Egyptian civilization, when the trade between city-states was prosperous, there was a merchant ship loaded with crystal ore called "natural soda" down the Mediterranean Sea.
But who knew that the tide was falling so fast that the merchant ship had no time to escape towards the depths of the ocean and was stranded near the beach. It is almost impossible for such a large boat to be propelled manually, and it can only be escaped by waiting for the boat to be fully submerged in the water when the tide is high the next day. During this period, the crew removed the ship's cauldron to make a fire for cooking, and some people took some ore from the commodity and built it into a base for the fire.
After the meal was full, the crew planned to take the cauldron and return to the ship to sleep, but at this time, everyone was surprised to find that the ore base used to burn the fire turned out to be crystal clear, and it looked extremely beautiful in the afterglow of the setting sun. Only later did everyone know that it was due to the chemical reaction between natural soda and quartz sand in the beach under the smelting of fire, which is the earliest source of glass in human history.
Since then, humans have mastered the refining method of glass. Quartz sand, borax, limestone, and some auxiliary materials are put into the fire to smelt, and translucent glass products can be produced. In the subsequent thousands of years of civilization changes, the composition of glass has never changed.
How to break the stability of glass composition?
Have you ever thought about why glass products from 4,000 years ago can be preserved to this day? Even if the bones will rot one day, why can glass not be affected by the external environment, and still appear in front of human beings brand new after 4,000 years? This has to do with its chemical composition.
If we look at the composition of glass with the eyes of modern science, we will find that it is a random amorphous solid; glass is made of silicon dioxide and other oxides fused at high temperature, which means that its internal atoms The structure does not have any periodicity, and the mixing of various elements will make its atomic arrangement complex and changeable.
However, further research by scientists found that there are also laws on this complex and changeable basis. Generally speaking, these atoms are not coordinated, but if they are concentrated on individuals, each atom has its own composition system. Basically, there is a silicon atom in the middle and four oxygen atoms around it, forming a very stable tetrahedral structure.
Based on this firm method, the chemical substances inside the glass are basically saturated, and it is basically difficult to chemically react with other surrounding substances. Let alone 4000 years, the glass can still continue to be preserved without force, whether it is wind or rain, or bacterial erosion has no effect on them.
Is there any way to break the stability of the molecules inside the glass? Have! Take the method of its birth as an example, the molecules inside the glass will change at a high temperature of about 600 degrees Celsius, and the solid glass will also be transformed into a liquid at this time, and the glass will naturally be completely destroyed from the inside out.
But the question is where to find ultra-high temperatures above 600 degrees in human society? Unless it is a volcanic eruption, this provides us with ideas for dealing with glass products, throwing them into active craters, and the high temperature inside the volcano can easily decompose glass products.
Secondly, it can also be treated with acidic oxides. The chemical composition of glass is very afraid of strong acids, and the same is true for strong alkalis. Whenever the surface of the glass touches these two components, its internal molecular structure will be corroded, and the glass will naturally be finished. . But we all know that these things are difficult to appear in nature, which is why the glass beads of ancient Egypt can be preserved to the present.
Epilogue
In fact, compared with serious environmental problems such as plastic pollution and sewage pollution, the impact of glass pollution on the natural environment is relatively small; the components of basic glass are non-toxic. Can easily destroy glass products.
It is as small as the force exerted by human beings and as large as the movement of the earth's plates. It is easy to grind the glass buried in the ground into powder, and then be absorbed by nature.
Or we can use the wind and the tidal force of the ocean to solve the problem of excess glass products. The large glass will become small glass under the erosion of sea water and wind, and the small glass will eventually become powder and integrate into the ecology of nature.
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