My watch list
my.chemeurope.com  
Login  

The Chemistry of Coloured Glass

17-Jun-2016

© Compound Interest

The Chemistry of Coloured Glass

Coloured glass is something that’s commonplace in our lives, from the green of wine and beer bottles, to the red, yellow, and green of traffic lights. The origin of these colours is something we don’t give a lot of thought to, but a range of different elements are responsible. This graphic takes a simple look at a few of these, and the colours they impart.

Coloured glass can actually be produced in a number of ways, but there are three main methods. The first involves introducing transition metal or rare earth metal oxides to the glass. This is usually achieved by the addition of metal oxides to the glass. The metal ions absorb certain wavelengths of light, varying depending on the metal, leading to the appearance of colour. There’s more on what causes the colour of transition metal ions here.

Topics
  • glass
  • metal ions
  • milk glass
More about Compound Interest
  • Infographics

    2018’s biggest science stories

    As we head into 2019, it’s time to take a look back at some of the biggest science news stories over the past year. This year’s science news featured water on Mars, the effects of e-cigarettes, new types of isomerism and bonding, and more! 2018 saw a number of significant discoveries in sci ... more

    Unleashing our immune systems against cancer

    The first of the 2018 Nobel Prizes is awarded. The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo for their discovery of cancer therapy by stimulating the immune system to attack tumour cells. This graphic takes a look at the prize-winning research. more

    The creation of tools made from laser light

    After the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded, it is physics' turn. The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Morou and Donna Strickland for their pioneering innovations in the field of laser physics. Strickland is only the third woman to recei ... more

Your browser is not current. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 does not support some functions on Chemie.DE