Glasses were invented nearly in the 17th century, are used to date, and have been greatly improved upon. Glasses are made from soda-lime, sand, silicon dioxide, limestone, calcium carbonate, and sodium carbonate, which undergo temperature and pressure changes to finally form the glass we use.
Key Takeaways
- Glass and Pyrex are both materials used for making laboratory equipment and cookware.
- Glass is a type of non-crystalline solid made from silica, while Pyrex is a brand of glass that has been treated with boron oxide to make it more durable and heat-resistant.
- Glass is more brittle and prone to breaking than Pyrex, which can withstand higher temperatures without shattering.
Glass vs. Pyrex
Glass is a hard, brittle, transparent, or translucent material composed of silica, soda, lime, and other additives. Pyrex is a brand of borosilicate glass known for its durability and resistance to thermal shock, commonly used in laboratory settings for glassware.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of comparison | Glass | Pyrex |
|---|---|---|
| What it means | Normal glass. | It is a sub-type of glasses that is heat resistant. It is essentially a brand name. |
| Used | For window panes, glasses, packing, housing, and so on. | Laboratory materials like test tubes, dishes, beakers, and kitchen utensils like cookware and baking ware. |
| Strength | Not shatterproof | It is shatterproof. |
| Fire resistance | Not fire-resistant. | It is fire-resistant. |
What is Glass?
Technically speaking, glass is liquid sand, even though it is not exactly solid or liquid. Sand melts at a very high temperature, and when it reaches the melting point, it undergoes a complete transfusion.
There are four types of glasses. Annealed glass is molten glass that is allowed to cool down in a controlled manner until it reaches the room’s temperature. The next is Heat Strengthened glass which is semi-tempered or toughened and involves annealing up to 700 or 650 degrees; this causes the glass to increase its mechanical and thermal strength twice as the previous one.
The uses of glasses are in kitchens, windows panes, glasses, dishes, micro ovens, etc. In greenhouses, the glasses are important to maintain the temperatures within the greenhouse.
What is Pyrex?
Pyrex is essentially a brand name, a tempered glass made up of different elements from borosilicate to soda-lime and so on. Initially, it was made of borosilicate composed of 4% boron, 54% oxygen, 2,8% sodium, 1.2% aluminum, 37,7% silicon, and potassium.
As Pyrex is shatterproof, heat resistant, and even erosion-resistant, pyrex has found wide usage in labs where beakers, dishes, test tubes, pitot tubes, and even measuring cylinders are made up of borosilicates or soda-lime. In kitchen utensils, especially the ones which are used for baking, microwaving as they are required to withstand higher temperatures.
Pyrex is six to eight times stronger than glass and thus is also more costly as they are more difficult to make. There are two main processes involved in this: batching and forming; in the former process, where one large batch of Pyrex is formed, and before the manufacturing begins, the raw materials are pulverized and granulated in uniform-sized particles and stored in towers.
Glass blowing is a rather famous technique used to make glassware and other similar stuff, and after the maker gets the desired shape, they close the mold, cool it, and then color or polish it to make it better for the market value. Quality control is really important as there have been cases of an explosion of Pyrex bowls in the microwave. It is important to get the composition, temperature, and pressure to form the products.
Main Difference Between Glass and Pyrex
- Pyrex is a brand name made up of glass itself but tempered glass. Previously, it was made of borosilicate. Glass is made from natural materials like sand, limestone, and soda ash made into the glass under high temperature and pressure.
- The Pyrex is nearly shatterproof, while the glass is mostly flimsy.
- The Pyrex is fire-resistant, while the glass is not.
- Pyrex is used in laboratories like test tubes, Petri dishes and beakers, kitchen utensils, and other industries with temperature fluctuations, while glasses are used for less taxing tasks.
- Pyrex is six to eight times harder than simple glass, as it has a granular breaking pattern.
- https://aip.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1063/1.2805043
- https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0960-1317/5/2/010/meta
Last Updated : 11 June, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
This seemed like a topic that had no depth, but I stand corrected. There’s a lot more to these materials than I realized.
It’s surprising how much detail is involved in the composition and production of these materials.
The comparison table was very helpful in illustrating the differences between glass and Pyrex.
I found it to be a bit oversimplified, but it did serve its purpose.
Agreed, it was a good way to summarize the information.
The tone and choice of words in the article were quite dry, but the content was valuable.
I believe the article achieved its purpose, which was to inform, but I agree with your point.
Yes, the topic was interesting but the writing style could have been more engaging.
It’s incredible how precise the differences are between glass and Pyrex. This was a great read.
I’m glad I read this article, it was an eye-opener for me.
I disagree with the assertion that the article is boring. It provided important insights.
I concur. Not every piece of writing needs to be entertaining to be valuable.
The explanation of the composition and uses of Pyrex and glass was very illuminating.
I agree, I now understand these materials much better.
I found this article rather dull, the topic wasn’t engaging.
I think it’s important to learn about materials we use in our daily lives.
I can understand your point of view, not everyone finds this interesting.
This article was fascinating. I would love to learn more about the production process of Pyrex and glass.
Absolutely, I think this article raises a lot of questions that could be further explored.
The article was very informative and interesting. It helped me understand the differences between glass and Pyrex.
I agree, I learned a lot from this article.
I had no idea Pyrex and glass were so different. This was enlightening.
This article changed my perspective on these materials.