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UPPCS Chemistry Gap Sheet: Glass, Cement and Everyday Materials.
UPPCS has asked 13 of these. 5 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
First, the concept
Materials are identified by both composition and structure. Glass is an amorphous solid, while quartz is crystalline silica. Cement hardens through hydration, not merely by drying.
Small additives change a material greatly. Boron improves the heat resistance of some glass, metal oxides give colours, and gypsum controls cement setting. Corrosion protection may use coatings or a more reactive sacrificial metal.
✅ Already asked (13)
Glass types and colours
- Soda-lime glass · Made mainly from silica sand, soda ash and limestone.
- Borosilicate glass · Low thermal expansion; useful for laboratory and heat-resistant ware.
- Crookes glass · Cerium-containing glass that absorbs ultraviolet radiation.
- Cobalt-blue glass · Cobalt oxide gives a deep blue colour.
Cement and mineral materials
- Cement raw materials · Limestone supplies calcium; clay supplies silica and alumina.
- Gypsum in cement · Added during grinding to control setting time.
- Concrete · Cement, water, sand and coarse aggregate.
- Corundum · Al₂O₃; ruby and sapphire are gem varieties.
- Silicon carbide · SiC; carborundum, a hard abrasive; not diamond.
Corrosion and surface uses
- Rust composition · Hydrated iron(III) oxide; oxygen and moisture are needed.
- Rusting and mass · Iron gains oxygen; an intact rusted sample generally gains mass.
- Magnesium fireworks · Burns with bright white light.
- Zinc oxide glaze · ZnO is used in some ceramic glazes and white pigments.
❌ Not asked yet (5)
Items marked 'asked in other exams' have come in UPSC or other state exams, not yet in UPPCS.
🔒 5 items not asked yet
Glass types and colours: 2 · Cement and mineral materials: 2 · Corrosion and surface uses: 1
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⚠️ Quartz is SiO₂, not sodium silicate; adding gypsum slows premature cement setting.
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