Behaviour of Silicate Melts in Respect of Volume

The volumes per oxygen of some silicate melts have been calculated and then compared with those of silicate glasses.It is suggested that the volume of a silicate melt can be divided into two parts.One is contri buted by the silicon-oxygen network and the other by the “oxides”.Variation patterns of VPOs suggest that the volume of the Si-O network generally remains unchanged and the expansion of the melt is caused mainly by the locat expansion of the “oxides”.It is further proposed that the radius of O^2- shows little variation,in striking contrast to the radius of cations.The mechanism governing the expansion is discussed in detail.

Behaviour of silicate melts in respect of volume

The volumes per oxygen of some silicate melts have been calculated and then compared with those of silicate glasses. It is suggested that the volume of a silicate melt can be divided into two parts. One is contri buted by the silicon-oxygen network and the other by the “oxides”. Variation patterns of VPOs suggest that the volume of the Si - O network generally remains unchanged and the expansion of the melt is caused mainly by the local expansion of the “oxides”. It is further proposed that the radius of O^2- shows little variation, in striking contrast to the radius of cations. The mechanism governing the expansion is discussed in detail. Supported financially by National Natural Science Foundation of China.