Tempered glass is a safety glass that goes through extreme heating followed by rapid cooling, a process that boosts both its strength and its heat resistance. That process, tempering, builds internal stresses into the glass. When it does break, instead of splintering into jagged, dangerous shards, it crumbles into small, granular pieces.
That safety behavior is why tempered glass is the standard wherever human safety is on the line: car windows, shower doors, architectural glass doors, refrigerator trays. In terms of raw strength, it’s roughly four to five times stronger than standard annealed glass, which makes it hold up well against impact and wind loads.
One thing to keep in mind: tempered glass has to be cut and finished before it goes through the tempering process, not after. Once it’s tempered, you can’t cut or drill it. Try, and you’ll shatter the whole pane.
