What is Window: Definition and 246 Discussions

A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the passage of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material, a sash set in a frame in the opening; the sash and frame are also referred to as a window. Many glazed windows may be opened, to allow ventilation, or closed, to exclude inclement weather. Windows may have a latch or similar mechanism to lock the window shut or to hold it open by various amounts.
In addition to this, many modern day windows may have a window screen or mesh (often made of aluminum or fibreglass) to keep bugs or insects out when the window is opened.
Types include the eyebrow window, fixed windows, hexagonal windows, single-hung, and double-hung sash windows, horizontal sliding sash windows, casement windows, awning windows, hopper windows, tilt, and slide windows (often door-sized), tilt and turn windows, transom windows, sidelight windows, jalousie or louvered windows, clerestory windows, lancet windows, skylights, roof windows, roof lanterns, bay windows, oriel windows, thermal, or Diocletian, windows, picture windows, Rose windows, emergency exit windows, stained glass windows, French windows, panel windows, double/triple-paned windows, and witch windows.
The Romans were the first known to use glass for windows, a technology likely first produced in Roman Egypt, in Alexandria ca. 100 AD. Paper windows were economical and widely used in ancient China, Korea, and Japan. In England, glass became common in the windows of ordinary homes only in the early 17th century whereas windows made up of panes of flattened animal horn were used as early as the 14th century. In the 19th century American west, greased paper windows came to be used by itinerant groups. Modern-style floor-to-ceiling windows became possible only after the industrial plate glass making processes were fully perfected.

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  1. P

    Tiny blue window that comes with startup

    I just noticed that there's a tiny blue window that comes when I start my computer. It goes to the top left corner so it's very easy to miss (it's def. trying to hide). I saw it before but I thought it was something in the background...I pulled it today by accident and realized it's a window...
  2. Gokul43201

    Switching window in comparators

    I'm looking for a complete definition of the switching window in the context of comparators. In particular, I want to make sure I'm not misunderstanding how hysteresis is implemented in the AD630 (Analog Devices) chip. http://www.analog.com/UploadedFiles/Data_Sheets/AD630.pdf See page 2, in...
  3. J

    Please help: object falling past window, time given

    Could anyone give me help on these problems thank you. 1. An object falls from height h from rest and travels 0.46h in the last 1.00 s. Find the height and time of its fall. Explain the physically unacceptable solution of the quadratic equation in t that you obtain. I think this problem...
  4. Greg Bernhardt

    LaTeX Latex Command Window now available

    Using Latex on PF has now never been easier! Thanks to the hard work of member https://www.physicsforums.com/member.php?u=40201". For the meantime I am interested in any performance issues you may have related to the feature.
  5. T

    Looking out the window of a fast ship

    Okay, for the moment, forget about time dilation. Are the following descriptions accurate if you do not account for time dilation? I've been going over and over this in my head and I can't figure out why any of these don't make sense. Setting: A ship going .99c. 1 Attached to the...
  6. D

    Design No Look Window Circuit: Oscillate 0-10V 400ms, Output High 100ms

    I have a signal and it oscillate bewteen 0 and 10V for 400ms when triggered. What is the easiest way to design a circuit that look for the first low of the pulse and output a high for 100ms while ignoring the pulses in the last 300ms? I prefer not to use uC. Thanks, David.
  7. -Job-

    LaTeX Latex Command Window for vBulletin

    As Latex gets to be more popular on web forums a nice feature would be able to display a list of the most common Latex commands in a window, for reference. I've been working on a plugin for vBulletin which adds this capability. I wanted it to have minimal impact on a forum, so that it's...
  8. M

    How is it called? (the window pane blackboard )

    How is it called? (the "window pane blackboard") Hello everyone, that's one terrible flat question I'm asking here, but do you know what is this super stylish blackboard that isn't black but transparent, exactly like a grand window pane? Any movie with some science in it has it. They write on...
  9. Loren Booda

    Window screen focuses bricks beyond?

    Can a uniform diffraction grating (a window screen) alone focus objects (bricks on a building beyond) so that a nearsighted observer (I) can better image them?
  10. A

    A packet is dropped from the window

    A helicopter is moving with some velocity in upward direction,a packet is dropped from the window of the helicopter.why the packet goes upward after dropping?What will be the velocity of the packet ?is its velocity is same as the helicopter?why,why?please explain.
  11. N

    Cool Room Air With Fan By The Window

    Suppose a fan was positioned to blow air out of a window so that window fit well around the fan. Why would this cool off a room?
  12. L

    Mysterious Phenomenon: Throwing Paper out a Train Window

    hey, is it possible, that when you throw a piece of a newspaper true the window of a train, the paper enters back at the following window ? thx laurens
  13. S

    Physics window experiment,please comment

    I have an idea for a physics demonstration, but i am unsure if it will work. Here it is. Aim: To change the refractive index of a small model window using electricity. Materials: 25g KPD (Kerr Medium) watered down and inserted between 2 glass panels. Electrodes placed above and below...
  14. D

    Transmission Coeff of Window Glass vs Wavelength?

    Does anyone know how ordinary window glass behaves at different wavelengths? It obviously passes the optical band, but does it pass ultra violet and infrared wavelengths equally well? How about wavelengths above 1000nm? Below 250nm?
  15. daniel_i_l

    Raindrops Sliding Down Car Window: Speed?

    I was in a car on a rainy day and saw that the drops on the window were sliding down the window at about 45 deg. , I guess that that means that the force of the wind on the raindrops is about equal to the gravitational force but is that enough to calculate the speed of the car?
  16. C

    Rate of energy transfer by conduction through the window?

    A thermal window with an area of 6.00 m2 is constructed of two layers of glass, each 4.00 mm thick and separated from each other by an air space of 3.00 mm. If the inside is at 20.0°C and the outside is at -38.0°C, what is the rate of energy transfer by conduction through the window? i am...
  17. T

    What sizes will give the largest window?

    Hey Guys, I managed to just scavenge this site from google and am in need for some assitance with this problem, which i think is very straightfoward but not sure how to approach it. A rectangular window surmounted by an equilateral triangle has a perimeter of 12ft, find the dimensions of...
  18. Pengwuino

    Something tossed through window

    Something I've been wondering lately is how much energy (or well, speed really) an object loses if it smashes through something (like glass). I was thinking if you knew the Young's modulus and the dimensions of the "something", you could use the integral of the F * dx. Then i realized Young's...
  19. JamesU

    Accidentally minimized the window

    So yesterday, the librarian was showing me how to do something for the school on the computer. she told me to go to the district's website, and I did. then, she accidentally minimized the window, and asked "where'd the website go?" "oh, well, I'll open another one". I was silent with laughter.
  20. G

    Remember IE only opens one window at a time?

    remember "IE only opens one window at a time?" ya, i had a thread like that a few months ago, that went horribly off topic, (discussions of why i should get rid of IE and switch to firefox or whatever...) anyway, problem hasn't been fixed... matter of fact.. its worse. now, if i want to...
  21. S

    Light Transmission Through Window Glass

    Do photons in the form of visible light actually pass through ordinary window glass? I ask because window glass is assumed to be opaque to photons in the form of infrared energy. The IR photons are accepted on one side of the glass, conduct through the body of the glass in the form of heat...
  22. E

    Throwing relativity out the window

    Ok, without criticism can we all just accept for argument sake a Newtonian spacetime? That is - without relativity. Ok, I'm going to try to describe something that I thought of a long time ago (considering time travel when I knew not of relativity). If information travels through light...
  23. Ivan Seeking

    Ticket Sales and Target Window for First Commercial Launch

    http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-05p.html
  24. S

    Calculate U-Value for Glazed Window with 3m^2 Area and 400W Thermal Transmission

    A single glazed window of area 3m^2 transmits 400W when there is a temperature difference of 15C across the glass, What is the U-value of the glass?? Help me, how do i work this out?
  25. Loren Booda

    How to Get Avatar Images for Your Website Address Window?

    How does one obtain for one's own site avatars similar to those which appear in some address windows? For PF the avatar appears as a "check" in a square yellow field.
  26. G

    IE will only let one window up at a time

    So, i can't click on any links right now, or open an new window, because when i do that, my original window closes. (like in JimmyP's bday thread...) So, i don't know why... or what's going on. Help?
  27. P

    Argon vs. Helium for Window Insulation: Which is Better?

    We have to to a report in our chemisty class on heating houses. One aspect is the window. Our teacher says that good windows are filled with argon becuase they have a high specific heat. but looking on the internet I seem to find the specific heat of argon to be about 520 J/kgC which is...
  28. K

    Way to make a window with menu bar in linux?

    Under Linux, is there any way to make a window with menu bar ? 10q Nikunotare
  29. F

    Exploring Desktop Environments & Window Managers: What's the Difference?

    What is the difference between a desktop environment and a windows manager? Why do I need them both?
  30. K

    Tension on each side of scaffold with window washer

    A scaffold of mass 68 kg and length 6.1 m is supported in a horizontal position by one vertical cable at each end. A window washer of mass 77 kg stands at a point 1.7 m from one end. What is the tension in the cable closer to the painter? What is the tension in the cable further from the...
  31. chroot

    Drawing pixels in a window in Windows

    I need to implement a sort of "framebuffer in a window" for a digital video application I'm working on. I need the window to be displayed alongside other windows (running Windows XP) and get along nicely with other windows on the desktop. The window will display the pixel data in an arbitrary...
  32. U

    Why Are Forces Equal When a Brick Breaks a Window?

    Force of Brick on Window Ok, I figured i'd had this question sussed but it doesn't seem so now that I know the answer. So, I know the answer, but I want to know why it's that way. A thrown brick hits a window, breaking the glass, and ends up on the floor inside the room. Even though the...
  33. S

    Raising the Window Washer: A Trickier Problem Than It Looks

    Ok, I tried this and even found on this forum that someone asked the same question before, but I tried their advice and the answer was still wrong. The problem is that : ---- A window washer pulls herself upward using the bucket-pulley apparatus ...How hard must she pull downward to raise...
  34. Loren Booda

    Calculating Time for Window Shade Roll-Up: M, W, L, T, R, m, g Dynamics

    A window shade of mass M, thickness W and length L is driven by a linear spring having tension T (with shade unfurled) and tension 0 (with shade rolled up). The solid cylinder upon which the shade winds has radius R and mass m. What is the time elapsed for the shade to roll up completely when...
  35. Q

    Flower Pot Falling Past a Window

    As you look out of your dorm window, a flower pot suddenly falls past. The pot is visible for a time t, and the vertical length of your window is L_w. Take down to be the positive direction, so that downward velocities are positive and the acceleration due to gravity is the positive quantity g...
  36. O

    Dreams: A Window Into Our Ancestor's Lives?

    Can dream experience's from our Parents/Ancestors lives, be passed on via Genetic hereditary? For instance, can some of my most bizarre dreams, actually be a replay of one of my ancestors life-experience..event? The Timeline of experience (events), played out in my dreams seem to have no...
  37. Evo

    Men Throwing Fireworks Leave Window Up

    This guy may someday get a Darwin Award. SALT LAKE CITY - Two men planning to throw lighted fireworks from a car were burned when they forgot to roll down the window. "They lit a large mortar rocket firework" and were going to throw it out the window, Salt Lake County sheriff's Sgt...
  38. J

    Pressure on a submarine window problem

    I have this fluids problem I've been working on for a while, but I can't seem to get the correct answer. The problem is: A circular window with radius 25 cm in a submarine can withstand a maximum force of 1.23E6 N. If the interior of the submarine is maintained at a pressure of 1 atm...
  39. C

    Light rays through a window pane

    I know a prisim can be used to disperse white light into colors. This does not happen when a beam of light passes through a window pane.Why not?( the light may or may not be entering the glass window along the normal. The light does not disperse into colors). thanks
  40. M

    Euclid's Window: A Journey Through the History of Geometry and Physics

    Euclid's Window, by Leonard Mlodinow, is the best layman text, that touches on the deepest issues of modern mathematics and theoretical physics, that I've ever read. Through use of excellent analogies and some humor, Mlodinow takes the reader through the history of geometry (from the ancient...
  41. T

    Throw hawking radiation theory out the window

    if an alone black hole is radiating gamma rays that's called hawking radiation that means its losing energy (because gamma rays aren't matter) but whatever size it is it dosen't lose energy that's why black holes go faster and faster the smaller it gets. Here is two main components why i say...
  42. G

    Aurora Borealis Viewed From My Window

    I can so totally see the aurora borealis from my window. I've never seen it before. It's so cool. I think I'm going to get my guitar and go outside and play... its cold, but i always play for the full moon, figure the lights are just as special. Sooooo Cool...
  43. Z

    Window Washer Problem (Forces)

    A window washer pulls herself upward using a bucket-pulley apparatus. How hard must she pull downward to raise herself slowly at constant speed? If she increases this force by 10% what will her acceleration be? The mass of the person and bucket is 65 kg. Need some help, gracias.
  44. marcus

    Shut the window, or philosophers will get in

    Someone wrote me PM asking about the pedagogical merit and scientific validity of three papers by Rainer Zimmermann (Philosophy of Science, some connections to Cambridge and Uni Kassel) I cannot judge on my own, but must throw the question open. The three papers are...
  45. grady

    Mysterious Window: Force It to Move or Find the Process Name?

    Why is the top of this window appearing at the bottom of the screen? Am I being HACKED! OMG I can't move the window and there isn't anything but the normal spyware that the cable company installs in the task manager. Does anyone know how to force a window to move or how I might link this...
  46. J

    How does the flow of thermal energy through a closed window illustrate

    How does the flow of thermal energy through a closed window illustrate the second law of thermodynamics? Which direction is the flow when it is cold outside? How outside? --Please note this is a textbook question I can't seem to answer.
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