One of the things I recall from my high school chemistry class regards temperature and glass: glass doesn't like abrupt shifts in temperature and can crack and shatter. This is why chemists use Pyrex glassware. It is far more resistant to changes in temperature than ordinary glass.
I got a rather vivid illustration of how poorly glass performs when its temperature shifts suddenly last night. I took a drinking glass (an Anchor Hocking Canton) out of the dishwasher just after the dishwasher had finished a cycle; the glass was very hot. I took a pitcher of filtered water out of the refridgerator; it was rather cold. I poured the water into the glass. The glass cracked and then split vertically, into two halves, along its length. One of the halves simply fell over. The other fell off the counter onto the tile floor of our kitchen, where it shattered into many, many pieces.
I wish I had a video camera with me when the glass cracked and split. It might have been worth a few views on YouTube. *sigh* Oh well, now I'll never know.
said drgeek
on 2008-07-13 at 9:15 p.m.
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