We are All Favorites of Fortune
In modern
construction for glazing of public buildings, hotels and shop windows, as well
as for auto- and car building, they widely use glass with a thickness of 6 - 8
mm and even up to several centimeters. Such glass is called plate (mirror)
glass. It is made by rolling, followed by grinding and polishing. When talking
about a building made of glass and concrete, they mean just such a mirror
glass.
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| Contemporary Concrete and Glass House |
However, in some
details of the industrial and domestic interior, it is necessary that the glass,
on the contrary, be opaque, but transmit light. Glass for such purposes is
subjected to sandblasting or rough grinding. Currently, they make for this
purpose patterned sheet glass, i.e. having any pattern. It is produced by
rolling on tables or between rollers on which a drawing is applied.
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| Patterned Sheet Glass |
Small glass
products are made opaque by treatment with hydrofluoric acid. The latter
interacts with silicon dioxide located on the surface, with the formation of
volatile silicon tetrafluoride SiF4 in accordance with the equation:
SiO2
+ 4HF = SiF4 + 2H2O
It is unlikely
that a modern person can appreciate the comfort and convenience that
transparent sheet glass gives him. After all, a person is born and grows in a
bright and warm room and takes it for granted.