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==Is Glass Solid or Liquid?==

==Is Glass Solid or Liquid?==

There are four basic states of matter: [[solid]], [[liquid]], [[gas]], and [[plasma]].  In a solid, molecules are ordered in a structured way.  In a liquid, molecules are disordered and they are not rigidly bound.  In a glass, however, we have the unique characteristic of a solid whose molecules are not ordered yet they are still rigidly bound.  This situation has caused some chemists to refer to glass as a "supercooled liquid" rather than a solid.  This would be a different state of matter than, say, freezing water; as water passes below the freezing point and becomes ice it forms a crystal and exhibits the properties of a standard crystalline solid.<ref>http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/Glass/glass.html</ref>

There are four basic states of matter: [[solid]], [[liquid]], [[gas]], and [[plasma]].  In a solid, molecules are ordered in a structured way, called a lattice.  In a liquid, molecules are disordered and they are not rigidly bound.  In a glass, however, we have the unique characteristic of a solid whose molecules are not ordered yet they are still rigidly bound.  This situation has caused some chemists to refer to glass as a "supercooled liquid" rather than a solid.  This would be a different state of matter than, say, freezing water; as water passes below the freezing point and becomes ice it forms a crystal and exhibits the properties of a standard crystalline solid.<ref>http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/Glass/glass.html</ref>

 

 

==References==

==References==

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