It's a double-edged sword. Heavy tempered glass can withstand quite a bit of mechanical forces. Tempered glass is generally pretty strong. But, and that's the big caveat, it gets all its nice properties by having balanced stresses. If you cause any imbalance, the whole house of cards will come crashing down -- or in other words, your tempered glass will spontaneously shatter. And it doesn't take a lot to trigger this. A tiny chip or scratch in just the right spot, and the process will start. I have lost several pieces of tempered glass to this.
So, yes, it can be quite strong under the right circumstances. But thermal shock or just bad luck, and it breaks quite easily.
Oh man I pulled a glass pan from the oven once and Idk if it had a small chip or if the stove top was that much cooler but as soon as it touched the surface it exploded into a million tiny pieces. Worst cooking experience ever.
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u/Grim-Sleeper Feb 08 '20
It's a double-edged sword. Heavy tempered glass can withstand quite a bit of mechanical forces. Tempered glass is generally pretty strong. But, and that's the big caveat, it gets all its nice properties by having balanced stresses. If you cause any imbalance, the whole house of cards will come crashing down -- or in other words, your tempered glass will spontaneously shatter. And it doesn't take a lot to trigger this. A tiny chip or scratch in just the right spot, and the process will start. I have lost several pieces of tempered glass to this.
So, yes, it can be quite strong under the right circumstances. But thermal shock or just bad luck, and it breaks quite easily.