Silicon balls can be a bottle’s worst nightmare. This type of stone is caused by aluminum contamination in the cullet. When the aluminum reacts with molten glass (mostly silicon dioxide), it exchanges places to create aluminum oxide and elemental silicon. Because silicon has a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than glass, these stones exert a very high stress on the surrounding matrix after the glass cools. They severely weaken the container and can cause it to break due to relatively mild loads later in the filling process. This SEM micrograph shows a damaged silicon ball (often they are found in a perfect spherical condition) that was found at a fracture origin.