You’re craving a hot cup of coffee. But when you pour hot water into the glass, suddenly the glass cracks. Have you ever experienced it? Why does it happen?
The phenomenon of glass breaking due to hot water being poured on it is also called thermal shock. Sometimes when we are unlucky, we will experience this. Not all containers can be used to hold hot water. Ordinary glass generally cannot handle high heat. Sometimes special types of glass such as Pyrex and borosilicate can also break when experiencing thermal shock.
Causes of broken glass
Glass is generally not affected by room temperature, cold temperatures such as in a refrigerator, and warm temperatures. Glass is a poor conductor of heat and when subjected to rapid temperature changes above 30°C, the glass can experience stress which over time can cause cracking. Thin glass will generally break at a temperature of 150°-160°C. If the glass is exposed to hot temperatures of up to 500°C, it will slowly change its shape from being solid to soft like plastic.
What influences glass so that it can break consists of several factors. The first thing you need to know is that the thickness of the glass will affect the glass’s resistance to heat. When hot water is poured, there is a temperature difference between the inner layer and the outer layer of the glass. The inner layer will absorb heat and cause it to expand. Absorbing heat and expanding are the intrinsic characteristics of glass. Because glass is a poor conductor of heat, heat from the inner layers of the glass slowly reaches the outer layers. Under these conditions, the inner layer is hotter than the outer layer. This temperature difference will create pressure. If the glass is unable to withstand this pressure, it will shatter.
What is quite unique is that thin glasses have more resistance when hot water is poured into them than thicker glasses. This is caused by the small pressure due to the temperature difference between the inner and outer layers of the glass due to the close distance between the inner and outer layers. The same concept also applies if the glass is placed at a temperature below freezing. Extreme temperature differences between the inner layer and the outer layer can also create pressure that can cause the glass to break.
How to prevent glass from breaking when hot water is poured over it
So that keep our glass is from breaking, there are several steps we must take when pouring hot water. The first is to warm the glass first. Mix hot water and room temperature water to warm the glass. After that, we start pouring hot water slowly so that the glass can adjust to the change in temperature. We can add a heat conductor such as a metal spoon to lower the temperature of the water and reduce the pressure on the glass layer. We can also use thinner glass so that it doesn’t break easily.
We have studied the causes of glass breaking when hot water is poured on it and how to avoid it. So when you make coffee and pour hot water, you can use this method or you can use a cup or mug made of ceramic or heat-resistant glass. Then for the coffee, you can use Toraja coffee with its distinctive taste and aroma. To enjoy high-quality Toraja coffee, you can try coffee from the Sulotco coffee plantation. You can get it at our official online shop at Tokopedia.
