What is glass?

The primary component of glass is silica. Silica is made of silicon and oxygen, earths two most abundant elements. Silicon doesn’t occur naturally uncombined. You will find it in 95% of rocks. Quartz is about as close as you can get to finding pure silica. While glass and quartz are both made of silica they are very different structurally. Glass is cooled before it has a chance to form crystals, it is considered an amorphous solid, essentially a liquid in a solid state. Quartz does have a crystalline structure giving it distinct characteristics. It is much stronger. Additionally, manufactured glass will have additives that effect the final product.