Good Morning,<\/p>\n
I have a glass table (metal base) with 1.30m (4.3ft) length, 75cm (29.5in) width and 1cm (0.4in) thickness. Yesterday a massive glass sphere fell of the shelf from a height of 1m (3.3ft) and broke the glass tabletop, made of common glass.<\/p>\n
I have had this table since 2009 and never had an accident with it. My main question is, which glass has the best impact resistance? I don\u2019t want to spend more money on tempered glass if it is the same resistance<\/a> of common glass. But if it is stronger, I will.<\/p>\n My concern about the strength of the glass<\/a> type is because my monitor, sound system and desktop is on the table ( total value of $1,500).<\/p>\n Thanks for your time and have a great day. Hi Felipe,<\/p>\n Thank you for contacting the Glass Detective with your question about whether you should use tempered glass or what you refer to as \u201ccommon\u201d glass for your office table. You question whether the tempered glass is less likely to break from impact than \u201ccommon\u201d or what we can call non-tempered glass. The simple answer is yes, the tempered glass is much less likely to break from impact \u2026 it is 4-5 times stronger than non-tempered glass of the same type and thickness.<\/p>\n However, tempered glass will shatter (explode) completely when it is broken and, as a result, items on it (when used as a table top) could fall off or fall through any area that did not have a solid surface underneath it. So there is a bit of a trade-off here. You could use a tempered\/laminated glass combo which combines two pieces of glass by way of a poly-vinyl (PVB) inner layer. Then you would have the strength of the tempered where an object might impact it but if it did break, the glass would not completely fall apart and (depending on how much weight you had on it) most likely stay in place. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) actually established a standard for glass used on furniture<\/a> that specifies it must be tempered glass in order to avoid injury in the event of breakage.<\/p>\n Glass.com has other articles about this topic and you should spend a few minutes reviewing them before you make a decision of any kind.<\/p>\n
\nSincerely,
\nFelipe M.<\/p>\nAnswer Regarding Tempered vs. Untempered Glass:<\/h2>\n