Cutting

Common card · No. 390934

Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scalpel and microtome. However, any sufficiently sharp object is capable of cutting if it has a hardness sufficiently greater than the object being cut, and if it is applied with sufficient force. Even liquids can be used to cut things when applied with sufficient force (see water jet cutter). Cutting is a compressive and shearing phenomenon, and occurs only when the total stress generated by the cutting implement exceeds the ultimate strength of the material of the object being cut. The simplest applicable equation is: stress = force area {\displaystyle {\text{stress}}={{\text{force}} \over {\text{area...

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