The two main constituents of glass are : Silicon Dioxide , Sodium Carbonate.
Alumina or borosilicate are added depending on the nature of the glass required.
Glass is a 'supercooled' liquid. , that is a liquid below its natural freezing point. Supercooled liquids do not have a crystalline structure, which pure solids have. However, glass if left for long periods of time (hundreds of years) may start to 'cloud', this is the crystals forming from the supercooled liquid.
Glass is manufactured primarily from the mineral quartz (SiO2) which is what sand is made from. However small amounts of other minerals are added to the sand to make the process easier. These minerals are:- sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) lime (calcium oxide (CaO) magnesium oxide (MgO) aluminum oxide (Al2O3) There are also other minerals which are added to make specialised glasses. e.g. Pyrex glass is made from sand and boron oxide.
Gypsum is the mineral used in making plaster. When gypsum is heated and mixed with water, it forms a paste that hardens to create plaster.
There could be several rocks used in the making of glass, but the main constituent material used in making glass is quartz. The rock which is used most for supplying the quartz used in glass making is sandstone.
Quartz will scratch glass but not pyrite. Pyrite has a Mohs hardness of around 6 to 6.5, while quartz has a hardness of 7, making it capable of scratching glass but not pyrite.
Scratching a mineral against a glass plate helps determine the mineral's hardness based on the scratches produced. Rubbing a mineral on a streak plate helps identify the color of the mineral's streak, which can be different from its outer color due to impurities or weathering. These procedures are commonly used in mineral identification.
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Quartz is a colorless mineral found in igneous rocks that is commonly used in glass making. It is valued for its hardness and resistance to chemical weathering, making it an ideal ingredient for a variety of glass products.
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borax
A white mineral in some alkaline salt deposits, used in making glass and ceramics, as a metallurgical flux, and as an antiseptic.
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Silica is the mineral that is commonly used in the form of sand to manufacture glass. Silica sand is melted down at high temperatures to form glass.
Computer chips are made with Silicon (metal). Glass, however, is made from Silica (sand) which sounds similar, but is actually quite different.
Glass is manufactured primarily from the mineral quartz (SiO2) which is what sand is made from. However small amounts of other minerals are added to the sand to make the process easier. These minerals are:- sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) lime (calcium oxide (CaO) magnesium oxide (MgO) aluminum oxide (Al2O3) There are also other minerals which are added to make specialised glasses. e.g. Pyrex glass is made from sand and boron oxide.
I would think that the answer is simple and resides in the simple business economic laws of supply and demand. The supply of glass for recycling is abundant whereby the material for making mineral glass countertops must be brought in and processed before making it into a countertop.
Feldspar
Feldspar