Glass is both a transparent or translucent material that can have different texture and colors.
- It is waterproof, smooth and hard, but, at the same time, fragile.
- It is resistant to environmental conditions and to chemical compounds.
- It is a good thermal, electrical and acoustic insulator.
Glass is made by mixing sand, soda and limestone. This mixture is heated to 1400ºC. When the mixture reaches this temperature it melts to form a paste.
Depending on the objects we can make we use different techniques.
We use blow moulding process to make bottles, test tubes, decanters, drinking glasses, etc.
If we can make windows glasses or plates we have to use float glass process We must use the lamination process if we can obtain laminated glass. This type of glass is often used to make windows with hacking, heat and noise protection; bulletproof glass is also one of types of laminated glass.
Binders are materials used to join together other materials.
We can use many types of binders for building:
Plaster: It is made from crushed gypsum. It is used to make archways, partitions and as covering for walls.
Cement: It is a grey powder made from a mixture of limestone, clay and gypsum.
Mortar: It is a mixture made from cement, sand and water. It is used to hold together construction materials like bricks or paving stones.
Concrete: it is a mixture of gravel, sand, cement and water. When it dries it hardens forming a strong material. It is used to make foundations, beams, columns, arches, etc.
Stones are materials found in nature as large blocks of rock within the earth. For example, marble, granite, and slate. We can obtain them from quarries.
We can also find them in different sized granules and fragments, such as sand and gravel.
Marble and granite have high density and high resistance to environmental conditions. They are used on floor and walls.
Slate is hard, dense and compact which makes it waterproof. It is mainly used to cover roofs and as paving stones.
Sand and gravel are used to make asphalt (a mixture of tar, sand and gravel).
