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Subject:
glass care
Category: Science > Chemistry Asked by: garbs-ga List Price: $2.00 |
Posted:
22 Apr 2004 15:15 PDT
Expires: 22 May 2004 15:15 PDT Question ID: 334535 |
Can household cleaning chemicals penetrate the surface of glass? |
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There is no answer at this time. |
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Subject:
Re: glass care
From: pinkfreud-ga on 22 Apr 2004 15:22 PDT |
Hydrofluoric acid can eat through glass, but it's not considered a household chemical. |
Subject:
Re: glass care
From: acrh2-ga on 22 Apr 2004 20:38 PDT |
There are different types of glasses available to a consumer. All glasses (in a common sense) are made out of silicates (derivatives of silicon dioxide = sand). The only chemicals known to react with glasses are hydrogen fluoride (fast) or very strong alkali (EXTREMELY slow). Neither is available to general public. If someone were to say to you that their glass was damaged through corrosion by a chemical, you had better assume that the glass was less than 1/64 inch thick. Can household cleaning chemicals penetrate the surface of glass? The answer is no. Think about it this way: chemistry lab glassware is made out of glass (very similar in properties to glass you know, differences from it being higher heat resistivity). Now, who would want to use glassware that would not hold its chemicals? |
Subject:
Re: glass care
From: acrh2-ga on 22 Apr 2004 20:53 PDT |
I read the comments from "Cleaning on glassware" question. They are mainly accurate except for one point, which is important. Acids do not attack glass. Hydrofluoric acid, or hydrogen fluoride, is the only one acid that does. But important issue to understand here is that the emphasis is on FLUORIDE, not acid. It is the fluoride that likes to react with glass, the acid part is just a promoter. Hence, none of the acids (including hot phosphorous acid, contrary to what the link states) will damage glass, let alone penetrate it. |
Subject:
Re: glass care
From: acrh2-ga on 22 Apr 2004 21:06 PDT |
Ok, the only reason why I'm here is because I've had a few beers and had nothing to do for half an hour. Being a Ph.D. chemist, I have to correct a few mistakes that I have made. 1) Phosphoric acid, not phosphorous acid. 2) I didn't know that hot phosphoric (IC!) acid is believed to attack glass. And I still don't believe it, though many sources on Google say that it does. I bet phosphoric acid would have to be heated to boiling to have any noticable effect on glass surfaces. Someone must have screwed up while describing its effects on glass, and now, everyone is repeating it (which often happens in science, published in obscure journals by obscure authors from obscure countries). After all, why would chemical manufacturers sell concentrated phosphoric acid in glass bottles? |
Subject:
probably not
From: nanoalchemist-ga on 06 Oct 2004 10:03 PDT |
acrh2-ga is correct about phosphoric acid etching glass http://www.glassonweb.com/articles/article/219/ Chemical Air Pollutants Certain airborne chemicals can also deteriorate glass surfaces. Although glass is resistant to most acids, some forms of hydrofluoric and phosphoric acids react quickly with silica present in glass. There are also other chemicals than might attack glass surfaces. When these substances are in the form of airborne sprays they can be carried for longer distances through the assistance of natural elements. They can be carried not only to industrial, but also to rural and residential areas. The question then becomes "does phosphoric acid count as a 'household cleaner'?" according to the NIH, yes, it can be. http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=chem&id=93 Overall, glass is pretty inert, and not likly to react with much. For cosmetic purposes, you may wish to avoid abrasive cleansers, which may phyisically scratch the surface of the glass. |
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