Tempered Glass by United Tuff Glass

Toughened or tempered glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermal treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering puts the outer surfaces into compression and the inner surfaces into tension. Such stresses cause the glass, when broken, to crumble into small granular chunks instead of splintering into jagged shards as plate glass (a.k.a. annealed glass) creates. The granular chunks are less likely to cause injury.

As a result of its safety and strength, toughened glass is used in a variety of demanding applications, including windows, shower doors, architectural glass doors and tables, refrigerator trays, as a component of bulletproof glass, for diving masks, and various types of plates and cookware.