question: How is glass always so stable for seemingly all various chemical reactions?
comment: 1: URL_0 2: URL_2 3: URL_1 4: URL_3 You should search before posting. Anyways from 1: > Glass aka silica aka silicon dioxide is very stable. The reason why glass seems inert is because most common elements and molecules in nature don't have the attraction needed to take electrons from the silica and disrupt the electron bonds between the silicon and the oxygen Edits: added more links
passages: Structurally, glass is composed of a network of SiO-tetrahedrons. In addition to the "network former" silicon which establishes its principal structure, glass contains "network modifying agents" such as the alkali ions Na+ and K+ and the alkali earth ions Ca+ and Mg+. Glass does not have a defined stoichiometry, rather the network is flexible. It can incorporate other ions, depending upon factors such as the main composition and firing conditions of the glass. This causes almost all glass to be chemically unstable to some extent.
   The chemical stability of glass decreases when only NaO and KO are added as flux, because bonding becomes weaker. The chemical stability of glass can be increased by adding CaO, MgO, ZnO, and AlO. To be stable, glass composition must balance temperature lowering agents with stabilizing agents.
   In the manufacturing process, silicate glass can be poured, formed, extruded and molded into forms ranging from flat sheets to highly intricate shapes. The finished product is brittle and will fracture, unless laminated or specially treated, but is extremely durable under most conditions. It erodes very slowly and can mostly withstand the action of water. It is mostly resistant to chemical attack, does not react with foods, and is an ideal material for the manufacture of containers for foodstuffs and most chemicals. Glass is also a fairly inert substance.
  
  Section::::Physical properties.:Other properties.:Corrosion.
   Electron charge differences of ions within the structure form the basis of its bonding. Both viscosity and transition temperature are related to the availability of oxygen bonds in the glass's composition. Modifying agents tend to lower the melting point of the silica. Higher contents of SiO increase acidity of the glass. Higher contents of CaO, NaO, and KO increase basicity.
   The strengthening mechanism depends on the fact that the compressive strength of glass is significantly higher than its tensile strength. With both surfaces of the glass already in compression, it takes a certain amount of bending before one of the surfaces can even go into tension. More bending is required to reach the tensile strength. The other surface simply experiences more and more compressive stress. But since the compressive strength is so much larger, no compressive failure is experienced.
   Energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDXA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) can be used to study exchange reactions in different types of glass. By quantifying and studying chemical structure and reactions at the near-surface layer, the mechanisms of glass disease can be better understood. 
   Concentrated colloidal suspensions may exhibit a distinct glass transition as function of particle concentration or density.
  
  In cell biology, there is recent evidence suggesting that the cytoplasm behaves like a colloidal glass approaching the liquid-glass transition. During periods of low metabolic activity, as in dormancy, the cytoplasm vitrifies and prohibits the movement to larger cytoplasmic particles while allowing the diffusion of smaller ones throughout the cell.
  
  Section::::Other types.:Glass-ceramics.
   Section::::Background.
   Section::::Structure.
  
  As in other amorphous solids, the atomic structure of a glass lacks the long-range periodicity observed in crystalline solids. Due to chemical bonding characteristics, glasses do possess a high degree of short-range order with respect to local atomic polyhedra.
  
  Section::::Structure.:Formation from a supercooled liquid.
   There are three classes of components for oxide glass: network formers, intermediates, and modifiers. The network formers (silicon, boron, germanium) form a highly cross-linked network of chemical bonds. The intermediates (titanium, aluminium, zirconium, beryllium, magnesium, zinc) can act as both network formers and modifiers, according to the glass composition. The modifiers (calcium, lead, lithium, sodium, potassium) alter the network structure; they are usually present as ions, compensated by nearby non-bridging oxygen atoms, bound by one covalent bond to the glass network and holding one negative charge to compensate for the positive ion nearby. Some elements can play multiple roles; e.g. lead can act both as a network former (Pb replacing Si), or as a modifier.
   Section::::Structure.:Behavior of antique glass.
   Glass disease is caused by an inherent fault in the chemical composition of the original glass formula. 
  
  Glass contains three types of components: "network formers" establish basic structure, "network stabilizers" make glass strong and water resistant, and "flux" lowers the melting point at which the glass can be formed.
  
  Common formulations of glass may include silica (SiO) as a former, alkali oxides such as soda (NaO) or potash (KO) for flux, and alkaline earth oxides such as lime (CaO) for stabilizing.
   Glass-ceramic from the LAS-System is a mechanically strong material and can sustain repeated and quick temperature changes. However, it is not totally unbreakable. Because it is still a brittle material as glass and ceramics are, it can be broken. There have been instances where users reported damage to their cooktops when the surface was struck with a hard or blunt object (such as a can falling from above or other heavy items).
   BULLET::::- Oliwenstein L 2011, 'Caltech-Led Team Creates Damage-Tolerant Metallic Glass', California Institute of Technology, 12 January, viewed 8 February 2013
  
  BULLET::::- Olmsted J & Williams GM 1997, "Chemistry, the Molecular Science", 2nd ed., Wm C Brown, Dubuque, Iowa,
  
  BULLET::::- Ordnance Office 1863, "The Ordnance Manual for the use of the Officers of the Confederate States Army," 1st ed., Evans & Cogswell, Charleston, SC
  
  BULLET::::- Orton JW 2004, "The Story of Semiconductors," Oxford University, Oxford,
  
  BULLET::::- Owen SM & Brooker AT 1991, "A Guide to Modern Inorganic Chemistry," Longman Scientific & Technical, Harlow, Essex,
   Section::::Manufacturing.
  
  Precondition for repetitious manufacturing of porous glass is the knowledge about structure determining and structure controlling parameters. The composition of the initial glass is a structure controlling parameter. The manufacturing of the initial glass, mainly the cooling process, the temperature and time of thermal treatment, and the after treatment are structure determining parameters. The phase diagram for sodiumborosilica glass shows a miscibility gap for certain glass compositions.
   It has also been argued that glass formation in metallic systems is related to the "softness" of the interaction potential between unlike atoms. Some authors, emphasizing the strong similarities between the local structure of the glass and the corresponding crystal, suggest that chemical bonding helps to stabilize the amorphous structure.
   Section::::History.
   Additionally, variations in the crystallization environment can also change the structure. Changes in pH, exposure to light, or changes in temperature can all change the resulting structure. Influences on the structure based on changes in crystallization environment are determined on a case by case basis.
  
  Section::::Other factors.:Guest molecules.
   Glass chemistry has a huge impact on the process since it controls the melting, forming and annealing temperatures, liquidus temperature (point where various chemicals that make up the glass start to crystallize out of the glass) and rates of change of characteristics of the glass itself.
   Section::::Global models.
   The bonding strength is mainly dependent on the density, the spreading area of the glass frit layer and the surface layer of the bonding interface. It is high enough, around 20 MPa, for most applications and comparable to those achieved with anodic bonding. The hermeticity ensures the correct function and a sufficient reliability of the bond and therefore the product. Further, the bonding yield of glass frit bonded wafers is very high, normally  90 %.
  
  Section::::Examples.
   BULLET::::- comment in Transactions of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, Volume 4, pp. 255–256 link
  
  BULLET::::- (communication) Edward Sang, "Theory of free vibrations of a linear series of elastic bodies. Part 1.", Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, volume 3, 1856–1857, p. 358 link, part 2, pp. 360–362 link
  
  BULLET::::- (communication) Edward Sang, "Proposal of experiments to determine the molecular changes which take place on glass", 1856
   The presence of non-bridging oxygens lowers the relative number of strong bonds in the material and disrupts the network, decreasing the viscosity of the melt and lowering the melting temperature.
   The following table lists common viscosity fixpoints, applicable to large-scale glass production and experimental glass melting in the laboratory:
  
  Section::::Glass container production.:Hot end.:Batch processing system (batch house).
   Glass typically has a tensile strength of , however theoretically it can have a strength of due to glass's strong chemical bonds. Several factors such as imperfections like scratches and bubbles and the glass's chemical composition impact the tensile strength of glass. Several processes such as toughening can increase the strength of glass.
  
  Section::::Contemporary production.
  
  Following the glass batch preparation and mixing, the raw materials are transported to the furnace. Soda-lime glass for mass production is melted in gas fired units. Smaller scale furnaces for specialty glasses include electric melters, pot furnaces, and day tanks.
  