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Hot glass can break in cold water because glass is a poor conductor of heat. When part of the glass is in cold water and part is not, the part of the glass in cold water will shrink much faster than the part not in cold water. When one part suddenly becomes much smaller than the other part, the glass breaks.

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14y ago
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Anonymous

Lvl 1
3y ago
Wrong answer
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16y ago

It is only true that glass breaks when it's filled with extremely hot water when it has just been filled with extremely cold water. Glass cannot handle extremely volatile temperature changes, which is why you must be careful to do things such as rinse a glass with warm water that you've just taken out of the freezer, and you must always let a beaker/crucible cool before you rinse it out after burning it. The same rules apply to porcelain as well.

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15y ago

The hot interacts with the cold. Causeing the glass to break. (ps it just happen to me 5 seconds ago Tuesady 23, 2008 16:59)

aaawww that must have suckd for you...

did yooh get a cut???

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12y ago

As things heat up they slightly expand. When they cool they get smaller. So, if you take a brittle substance like glass and heat it up it will expand. But, if you rapidly cool it, part of the glass will shrink so fast that it will break away before the rest of it can cool down and shrink. The same will happen when you rapidly heat a cold glass it will break. If you rapidly cool or heat the glass EVENLY over its ENTIRE surface area it should not break in "theory" because the glass will expand and contract at the same rate across its entire surface. But it still is glass and could break due to imperfections/design.

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11y ago

this is because the outer surface of the glass comes in direct contact with cold water and contracts more as compared to the inner surface

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Q: Why does hot glass break in cold water?
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Why does glass break when exposed to cold temperature on the outside and warm temperature on the inside?

if you would put a glass wine cup into the freezer (ice box) and take it out and run it under steaming hot water, it will break, its just like ice take dircetly from the freezer and put it under hot water you will here it crackle and break!


What would happen to a cold empty glass if it was placed in a hot humid room?

Hmmm... I think this shld b a better ans. When in a cold room, the glass will contract. So, when taken out of cold room and placed in hot room, expansion will take place. As the glass has uneven surface, the process of expansion will cause the crack.


What happens when you throw hot water outside when it is cold?

When I grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, we would go outside when it was below -60 degrees Fahrenheit, and toss a glass of hot water into the air. If cold enough, the water droplets would crystallize in the air before hitting the snow. If not quite cold enough, water would hit the ground, and freeze in seconds.


Why does the hot glass of a kerosene lamp cracks when wet with water?

The glass of a kerosene lamp while glowing is hot. When water falls on it, there is a sudden change in temperature, which causes the glass to break.


Which water should be cold and cold when doing a old remedy for a pair of nested drinking glasses?

Put cold water inside the glasses. Dip the outer glass into hot water. The outer glass expands, the inner glass contracts.


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The hot water will increase the temperature of the glass and cause the inside of the gas to expand faster than the outside.This will exert a force on the glass and the glass may crack.


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Why does hot oil break glass and not hot water?

The boiling point of oil is higher than water and absorbs more heat .When hot oil is poured in a glass container the heat is conducted through the cold glass which expands and breaks while in hot water the heat energy absorbed is less and the glass heat is dissipated slowly to avoid sudden expansion.


Why shouldn't you pour a hot liquid into a cold glass?

The hot liquid could crack a cold glass.


Is hot glass cracking when placed in cold water a chemical or physical change?

Physical. The glass expands or contracts depending on temperature, when you put a hot glass into cold water part of the glass cools and contracts while some of it is still in it's hot, expanded state.