If I cut a thing in two, are the two pieces together exactly the same size as the original?

Or to rephrase it: does a knife/scissors/etc just split something or does it remove something?

  • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de
    73·
    14 hours ago

    I’m pretty sure that generally some particles break off from either side whenever you cut something in half. When I cut paper with scissors I get a distinct smell, that’s clearly paper particles that have escaped into the air. Under the right conditions you may even see some dust.

    When using a saw it is very explicitly removing material to create a gap between the two sides. You can see this clearly in a lot of woodworking videos on YouTube. For other tools like a knife, it’s not as obvious, but I still think some material will inevitably be lost no matter what you do.

    Maybe some extremely specialized nano-scale methods can cut things without losing material, but I doubt that’s something you can do on an everyday life scale.

    Disclaimer: I’m not an expert and I did 0 research, just giving my opinion and personal knowledge (which may be wrong).

        • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          1·
          2 hours ago

          Really depends on the kind of paper. Used to habe to do technical drawings, and there is indeed a distinct smell to certain kinds of paper, but not your usual copy-grade sheets.

    • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
      7·
      11 hours ago

      This is pretty much what I was going to say. You always lose material, but the amount lost varies drastically based on the method. Even when using a knife or shears in a purely straight motion (no sawing or sliding), the material has to deform to make room for the cutting device. It may rip apart, it may bulge into itself, it may crumble, it may do it all. Try cutting a thin slice off a nice block of cheese and you’ll see nearly all the deformation go to the slice, while the knife will be coated in cheese