Glass – transparent amorphous solid that is used to make household items, windows, mirrors, and more. Glass is usually something we tend to look past in our day-to-day lives because it is so common and all around us that we don’t even think about it, but did you know that the Romans were the first known to use glass for windows, a technology likely first produced in Roman Egypt? Do you know what glass is made out of? Do we really know anything about it? We’ve gathered up some cool facts about glass that you may have never heard of – keep reading to find out just what they are!

Glass is made out of sand

Yup, if you didn’t already know this, glass is, in fact, made from sand. To produce glass, sand is mixed with lime and soda ash and heated at extremely high temperatures. After the liquid mixture cools back down, the result is glass.

Glass can be formed by…

Not only is glass made out of sand, but it can also be formed by lightning and volcanic lava! Because of the high temperatures, glass can naturally form when sand is struck by lightning leaving small glass pieces strayed about on sandy land, for instance, in the desert. With volcanic lava, Obsidian, a type of natural glass, can form when hot lava cools quickly after being expelled from a volcano. How neat!

Glass changing colors

We’ve all seen stained glass windows, but how exactly are they made? Colored glass can be made by adding minerals to the glass. Combining other minerals with the sand, lime, and soda ash can result in different colored glass. For example, adding nickel oxide to the mix produces violet glass.

Glass is 100% Recyclable

Did you know that glass can take 1 million years to decompose in landfills? Durable and resilient, glass is one of the longest-lasting man-made materials, which means that if it is sent to waste, it will remain – the good thing is 100% recyclable and can be reused without losing any of its quality or purity!