IB Design Technology 4.2c Glass Questionbank

The Volkswagen (VW) Beetle is considered a design classic. In the 1999 car of the century competition it came fourth (after the Ford Model T, Mini and Citroen DS).

Since the production of the first car in 1941 the car has changed very little in appearance, see Figure 10. Initially the bodywork was made of steel, but more recently this has changed to a range of materials such as alloys, composites and plastics.

Other materials that make up the VW Beetle have also changed. For example, the windscreen (windshield) is made of laminated glass whereas it was originally made of toughened glass.

One way that a product may be considered as a design classic is by the length of the maturity phase in the product life cycle.

In the manufacturing of high-quality laboratory equipment, which specific ingredient is added to the glass melt to ensure the resulting product can withstand sudden and extreme temperature changes?

Which classification of glass is most effective for applications requiring high resistance to thermal shock, such as ovenware or laboratory beakers?

Glass can be processed in many ways to achieve different properties.

A manufacturer of hand-blown glass ornaments observes that products often shatter spontaneously as they cool. Which process is specifically designed to prevent this by relieving internal stresses?