Importance of a keystone in an arch?

clue.less

this site: http://www.cpo.com/weblabs/chap3/archf.htm

helped me to understand the forces acting on each side block an arch, but it doesn't give any information about the keystone.

Can someone explain a keystone's importance? What is its function, and how does it keep itself from falling?

0xDEADBEEF

There is nothing special about the keystone. You could also build an arch with an even number of stones. The keystone is wedged so to move downwards it would need to move the other stones out of the way (up for example), which is prevented by friction.

Canticle

It's also partly about construction. The keystone is normally the last stone to go in to release the load on the formers. There are also many different shaped arches, and in many, i.e. gothic arches, the keystone takes the most compressive load, as all the load line doesn't necessarily follow down the arch soffitt.

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clue.less	Importance of a keystone in an arch? Tweet this site: http://www.cpo.com/weblabs/chap3/archf.htm helped me to understand the forces acting on each side block an arch, but it doesn't give any information about the keystone. Can someone explain a keystone's importance? What is its function, and how does it keep itself from falling?

0xDEADBEEF	There is nothing special about the keystone. You could also build an arch with an even number of stones. The keystone is wedged so to move downwards it would need to move the other stones out of the way (up for example), which is prevented by friction.

Canticle	It's also partly about construction. The keystone is normally the last stone to go in to release the load on the formers. There are also many different shaped arches, and in many, i.e. gothic arches, the keystone takes the most compressive load, as all the load line doesn't necessarily follow down the arch soffitt.