Weight of Window Glass

Composition

• Window glass is made from three essential raw materials found abundantly in nature: silica, lime and sodium carbonate. Additives, in small percentages, give special properties to glass or facilitate the glass-making process. The weight of a window pane can be calculated by multiplying the volume of the glass by the weight per cubic foot of the glass used to make the window. Most glass used for window panes weighs approximately 160 pounds per cubic foot.

Standard Unit of Weight

• The standard unit of measurement for the density of glass is expressed in pounds per cubic foot. To simplify calculation of the weight of a window pane, it is helpful to restate the volume of a cubic foot as 1,728 cubic inches. This is calculated by converting each linear dimension to inches, then multiplying to find the product of the length, width and height of a cubic foot of glass.

Standard Thickness

• Window panes for household use are typically 3/16 to 1/4 inch thick. Thinner, flat glass, less than 1/8 inch thick, is used to frame pictures. Thicker glass panels, up to 3/4 inch thick, are used in shop-fronts, shower doors and partitions.

Calculation

• To calculate the approximate weight of a window pane, multiply the area times the thickness of the glass. To find the area, multiply the pane's length times its width. Multiply the area of the glass times its thickness to find the volume. Multiply the volume of the pane times the weight per cubic foot to find the weight of the pane. Architectural glass, depending on specific components used by various manufacturers, weighs approximately 160 pounds per cubic foot.