Key features of chemistry and solids

This chapter introduces simple ideas of chemical bonding with a focus on glass type materials. It includes the impact of additives and impurities on strength and colour of many minerals and transparent materials, and how the same dopant ions that produce colour can alter their chemical binding when heated. It notes that many of the visual changes are totally determined by the presence of impurities included in the material, at levels as low as parts per million. Hence, thermal changes in heating or cooling can generate different results in the same material. The consequences are visually recognizable and exemplified by materials such as ceramics, glass and enamels. The chapter offers insights into changing methods of glass manufacture, the role of ion size, and their specific ways of chemically binding together. No prior knowledge of the topic is required.