Glass is manufactured from a series of elements consisting of soda ash, sand and lime that are mixed and heated under very high temperatures until it melts into a mixture. The hot mixture passes through blowing and pressing molding it into a glass. The resultant product is then passed through the annealing process where it is reheated and cooled.
Tempered glass passes through the same process only that its annealing process is made shorter. It is forced to cool rapidly, which additionally increases the breaking point. On the other hand, untempered glass is allowed to cool slowly and, therefore, will react to breakage differently.
Due to the different processes involved in making the two types of glass, their qualities will tend to differ. Tempered glass is more flexible in nature, and when it breaks, it webs into small pebbles that are evenly shaped and hence less risky when handling. Untempered glass breaks into shards that are large and irregular in shape posing a risk to all those who come into contact with the pieces.
Distortion is used to differentiate between the untempered glass and tempered glass. The latter tends to break at the particular spot of contact which results in extensive cracks or a hole in the given location. The rest of the area is left intact; hence it is suited for security purposes. Tempered glass is more resistant to impact unless if overpowered in which it will break completely. For this reason, they are used in areas where safety is a guaranteed necessity, according to Dulles Glass and Mirror.
In applications where resizing of glass is required, untempered glass is preferred since holes can be drilled, and its material can withstand being pressed into shape. Tempered glass cannot be reshaped or resized after the process is done. Attempts to resize or punch holes into the glass would cause it to shatter completely unless you needed pebbles for an application.
Coffee tables are made of tempered glass, because they can resist large amounts of heat compared to the untempered glasses. They are also scratch resistant, hence likely, to last longer. However, the two types of glass don’t appear different in physicality. Both types of glasses can come in different sizes, widths, lengths and even different colors.
You don’t have to break all glasses around you in an appeal to find out if they are tempered or untempered. You can distinguish glasses just by carrying out a simple analysis. The edges can simply disqualify a type of glass. Tempering requires extra processing hence the edges are entirely smooth and the felt roughness disqualify its tempering nature.
Untempered glasses maintain a series of scratches, so you can distinguish between the two glasses easily provided light reflects through the glass for easy visibility. It is important to distinguish between the two types of glasses since their applications vary. You wouldn’t want to put up an untempered glass for a furniture replacement with kids around. On the other hand, you would not want apparent losses during a home improvement process where untempered glasses are required but you end up purchasing the opposite.
Related Resource: Cost of Vinyl Siding
