The real reason why barns are painted red

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6 pointsderekp73 comments

There's a gentle danger with this kind of science myth that people just accept it because "science is cool".

(https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1688324)

(https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5822301)

Ferrous Oxide is not only plentiful, but acts as a fungicide. (http://home.howstuffworks.com/question635.htm)(http://www.gr...

Red houses and barns are most common in Sweden and Finland. The reason is that the red color imitated the brick buildings of richer people, it was a matter of class. It also helped preserve the wood, but that is not the main reason.

That's interesting, and it still may mean that the article applies in that case to. Just for those who want the tl;dr version, the article states that barns are read because red paint is the cheapest (decent) paint. And the reason red paint is cheapest, is because it has pigments made from iron, which is about the most common heavy element (heavier than neon) element on earth. And this is all due to fusion in stars, and how it stops at iron.

So, the question is, are bricks red due to iron also?

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