Why are barn windows round?

[gregcropper]

Why are the upper windows in stone barns round? I can"t think of any object that would need to be passed through it that is round.
Thanks Greg

[doctordb]

If your referring to the gable ends I can only think that a square window would weaken the structure more than a round one.

[gregcropper]

Thanks doctor..... that's the best suggestion yet. The building I was looking at today had windows in the side walls rather than the gables, but your point stands

[joko]

yes i think its the positioning of the bricks in the arch shape at the top creates a stronger structure so it does not need a supporting beam - the weight actually adds to the strenght

[jno]

same as windows in planes are curved, possibly. Comets were beautiful aircraft, the first jet airliners

http://www.morsemad.com/air_files/g-alvg.jpg

but they had square windows and it weakened the structure. Two of them fell apart in midair.

[237SJ]

From what I remember from my childhood (and I spent an awful lot of hours playing in barns) the windows were not round.

[Old_Geezer]

Surely a triangle is supposed to be the strongest shape ? I'm unsure how the stresses work in a round opening. It's been too long ago that I last had to work out such things.

I'd suspect a round window is merely tradition.

[joko]

arches made with bricks or stone are very common because as weight it placed above the kind of 'fan shaped' layout of the bricks, actually forces them closer together and it gets stronger rather than weaken - they actually cannot collaspe downwards - only if pushed forward