Question
Question: Why does ice have a sharp melting point but glass melts over a range of temperatures?...
Why does ice have a sharp melting point but glass melts over a range of temperatures?
Solution
We know that it can be related to types of solids. There are generally two types of solids; crystalline solids and amorphous solids. Crystalline solids are four types.
Complete answer:
We know that solids are classified into two types on the basis of their important properties.
The two types of solids are crystalline and amorphous solids.
Crystalline solids are those which are anisotropic in nature whereas amorphous solids are isotropic in nature.
Crystalline solids are also called true solids whereas amorphous solids are called pseudo solids.
Crystalline solids are those which have definite shape and geometry whereas amorphous solids are those which have irregular surfaces.
Crystalline solids have definite heat of fusion whereas an amorphous solid does not have.
Crystalline solids are those which melt over a sharp melting point whereas amorphous solids are those which melt over a range of temperatures.
Thus, ice has a sharp melting point that means it is an example of crystalline solid whereas glass is an example of amorphous solid, thus it melts over a range of temperatures.
Additional information:
There are generally three states of matter; solid, liquid and gas. Solids are the substances which have fixed shape and geometry. Solids have fixed volume also. There are two more states of matter that are plasma and bose Einstein.
Solids are further of two types: amorphous and crystalline. Crystalline solids are four types.
Note:
Always keep in mind that crystalline solids are anisotropic in nature and amorphous solids are isotropic in nature. The other name used for crystalline solids is true solids and amorphous solid is pseudo solids.