Can porcelain last for ever? or does it eventually break down and crumble?
Answer:
Porcelain and other earthenware cannot last "forever" but it will last thousands of years. I have an oil lamp made in Palestine about 1600 years ago and it is still in working condition. Some ancient Egyptian pottery is up to 5000 years old.
Porcelain power line insulators have to have a perfect glaze or they will absorb water. When exposed to a very high voltage, the small current to ground at each insulator is increased by the presence of the water. The water heats up, turns to steam and the insulator can explode. The power line then falls on the ground - not good.
It does not break down. When it comes to archeology, you find bones and teeth.
Porcelain is made from clay; it will eventually crumble back to dust.
How long depends upon the type of clay it was made from, the "ingredients" mixed with it, the exact process used in changing it to porcelain. If it is not baked at just right temperatures for just the right amount of time, it will not last as long.
Of course, good porcelain under favorable conditions can last for thousands of years.
My brother has a porcelain pitcher that we made Kool Aide in when we were kids; it is more than 150 years old now.
Porcelain samples have been found on the bottom of the ocean in Spanish shipwrecks dating from the 1500's. There are Chinese porcelain pieces that are hundreds of years older.
Nothing lasts *forever*, but the fine white clay used in making porcelain is baked at such a high temperature the sand and glazes are turned glass-like.
most toilets are made of porcelain..I fear that will be our only legacy to those who come after. If not destroyed intentionally porcelain will last forever. Some of the only artifacts left from the TITANIC are porcelain dishes. They've been in salt water 2 miles down for almost 100 years.
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