Drew learned that glass is made from sand. He found a pile of sand, but it did not look or behave much like glass. He tried reshaping the pile of sand and pressing on it, but he could not turn it into glass. Why could Drew not make the sand into glass?

Answer 1

Drew could not turn the sand into glass because glass is not simply a reshaped form of sand; it requires a specific process to be created. To make glass, sand (primarily composed of silicon dioxide) must be heated to extremely high temperatures—typically around 1700°C (3100°F)—until it melts and transforms into a liquid state. This molten glass can then be shaped and cooled to solidify into glass.

Simply pressing or reshaping sand at room temperature will not provide the necessary heat for the sand particles to melt and fuse together. Additionally, without the right conditions (like temperature and controlled cooling), the sand will not undergo the chemical transformations required to become glass.