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The edge of a knife separates the material being cut using the principle of a wedge. The edge of the wedge is being forced between the fine structural elements of the material being cut using the action of the simple machine we call a wedge.
Wiki User
∙ 6y ago
Wiki User
∙ 6y agoThe shape a kitchen knife is a wedge (essentially a triangle shaped profile) but its action has nothing to do with being a wedge.The functioning of a knife depends on increasing the pressure on the part of the knife in contact (the edge) with the tomato or whatever you are cutting. If you apply 100 grams of force to the blade and the point of contact of contact is fraction of a square millimetre the pressure on the tomato can be several kg per square centimetre. This is enough to split the cells of the object being cut.
This is much like the reason a nail can pierce a board while the hammer head won't.
If anything the process at work is more like a lever
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What type of machine is a knife spoon fork?
A knife is a wedge.
What type of simple machine is a letter opener?
There is no one simple machine that is a can opener. A can opener is a combination of simple machines: 1. Wedge, 2. Lever, 3. Wheel and axle.
What type of simple machine is a fork?
Depending on how it is used:A wedge: to spear, or slide under food, in preparation for picking it up;A Lever: when using it to actually pick the food up.
When was the wedge invented?
The inventor of the wedge is unknown
Why is the wedge V shaped?
The wedge is V shaped to make the shape of a wedge. The definition of a wedge is a gap between two spaces, thereby causing the V in wedge design. The v shape of the wedge was also used as a military strategy to break through enemy lines.
Give an example of a wedge in a kitchen?
A knife is a wedge.
What type of simple machine is a knife'?
A wedge
What type of machine is a knife spoon fork?
A knife is a wedge.
Why is knife not a simple machine?
A knife is a simple machine, its a wedge.
When you use scissors to cut paper what two simple machines are they?
There are 2 of them and they are a wedge, and a lever.
What simple machine is knife?
A wedge
Is a butter knife a wedge?
A knife is a wedge by it's classical definition. "A piece of hard material with two principal faces meeting in a sharply acute angle" There is something called a "wedge-knife", however most knives would not make very good wedges.
What simple machines is a steak knife made of?
That would be a wedge as the blade is sharpened to an edge. It could also arguably be a lever, the chopping board being a fulcrum.
What type of simple machine a knife?
wedge
A device that uses a wedge?
axe, or knife
What is something that can be split apart with a wedge?
knife
Why is knife a wedge?
A knife is a wedge by it's classical definition. "A piece of hard material with two principal faces meeting in a sharply acute angle" There is something called a "wedge-knife", however most knives would not make very good wedges.
