Question

A thick glass tumbler cracks when hot water is poured into it because of uneven expansion of the walls. True or false.

• A. True
• B. False

Answer 1

The correct option is A True

Glass comes in the insulator class of material which means its a poor conductor of heat. When you pour a very hot liquid into a thick tumbler what happens is, the surface of glass that comes in the contact with the hot liquid heats up and expands as per its coefficient of thermal expansion, while the outer layer is cold and does not expands. This leads to development of thermal stresses which eventually causes cracking.