The Physical Properties of Glasses. Part VI. The Relationship between the Volume and the Number of Glass-Forming Ions in Silicate Glasses

JSGT 1946 V30 T306-T309

It is shown that, at least in silicate glasses, there is no perceptible difference between the volumes of a bridging and a nonbridging oxygen ion. The volume of the interstices in the oxygen network is proportional to R^3/2 (R being the ratio of the number of oxygen ions present to the number of glass-forming ions present) as deduced from a simple model of the glass structure. Using these two results it is possible to calculate as a function of R the volume of a block of glass containing one gram-atom of oxygen ions. The values of V obtained in this way are identical, within the limits of error involved, with those derived from the formula V=V₀/(1−R_χ’)obtained previously.

J. M. Stevels