A burning glass or burning lens is a large convex lens that can concentrate the sun's rays onto a small area, heating up the area and thus resulting in ignition of the exposed surface. Burning mirrors achieve a similar effect by using reflecting surfaces to focus the light. They were used in 18th-century chemical studies for burning materials in closed glass vessels where the products of combustion could be trapped for analysis. The burning glass was a useful contrivance in the days before electrical ignition was easily achieved.
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Famous quotes containing the words burning and/or glass:
“The isles of Greece! the isles of Greece
Where burning Sappho loved and sung,”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (17881824)
“The glass has been falling all the afternoon”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)