We Have Chemistry Together.

Today is random stuff day at Slipcast, so we will have a few non-ceramics related things that I love.
As I am elbows deep in my glaze calc class I had to post this because I have been talking chemistry, a lot. To all the ceramicist who are out there who are trying to learn glaze calc on their own, I offer this advice. There are only 10 elements that you need to focus on. Lithium, Sodium, and Potassium, the first column of the periodic table. Magnesium, Calcium, Strontium, and Barium, The second column. These two groups are the fluxes and the neat thing about the periodic table is that if elements are in the same column then they work in a similar way. So to say, Lithium, Sodium and Potassium, all do the same thing. Silica and Alumina, are the glass formers and are on the right hand side. Boron is a glass former too, but you only have to worry about that if you are working at low temperature. That's it, understand what these 10 elements do and you will be on your way to understanding glaze chemistry.

This quilt was made by Cherry_Blossom55 over at Craftster.
found via: Unique Daily

This really makes me think about my parents, as my mother is a quilter and my father's undergraduate degree is in chemistry. I should call them.