Why plane windows are rounded

飞机舷窗为何是圆形的

While not everyone will have pondered the subject while staring out of the window during a flight, the question as to why airplanes have circular windows rather than square ones is interesting.

虽然不是每个人都会在飞行中凝视窗外的时候思索一个问题：为什么舷窗是圆形的而不是方形的。但这个问题很有趣。

Over the years, aerospace¹ engineering has made huge leaps in airplane technology, meaning planes can carry more passengers and go faster.

多年来，航空航天工程在飞机技术上取得了巨大的飞跃，这意味着飞机可以运载更多的乘客，飞行速度更快。

The planes have also changed shape to increase safety – including the windows.

同时，为了提高安全性，飞机在外形上也做出了相应的改变。舷窗，便是变化之一。

Where there's a corner, there's a weak spot.

哪里有拐角，哪里就有弱点。

Windows, having four corners, have four potential weak spots, making them likely to crash under stress – such as air pressure.

方形舷窗有四个角，就有着四个潜在的薄弱点，使它们很可能在压力作用下破裂，比如大气压力。

By curving the window, the stress that would eventually crack the window corner is distributed, and the likelihood of it breaking is reduced.

因此，让窗缘线条弯曲，来分散窗口四角的压力，从而降低了窗户破碎的可能性。