Sectility
Sectility is the ability of a material to be cut into thin pieces with a sharp edge.[1] Most materials that are not sectile will be broken into rougher pieces when cut. Most metals and paper are sectile.
Sectility can be used to distinguish minerals of similar appearance, and is a form of tenacity.[2] For example, gold is sectile but pyrite ("fool's gold") is not.
Sectility is often a strong indicator of a material's spreadability. For this reason, sectility is often measured in food science to help assess the texture of semi-solid foods such as butter or tofu.[3][4][5]
Sectility in metals is a result of metallic bonding, where valence (bonding) electrons are delocalized and can flow freely between atoms, rather than being shared between specific pairs or groups of atoms, as in covalent bonding.[6][need quotation to verify]
References
[edit]- ↑ Nelson, Stephen (Sep 16, 2013). "Physical Properties of Minerals". Tulane University.>
- ↑ "Sectile - Minerals.net Glossary of Terms".
- ↑ Rohm, H.; Ulberth, F. (1989). "Use of magnitude estimation in sensory texture analysis of butter". Journal of Texture Studies. 20 (4): 409–418. doi:10.1111/j.1745-4603.1989.tb00451.x. ISSN 0022-4901.
- ↑ Huebner, V. R.; Thomsen, L. C. (1957). "Spreadability and hardness of butter. II. Some factors affecting spreadability and hardness". Journal of Dairy Science. 40 (7): 839–846. doi:10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(57)94561-7. ISSN 0022-0302.
- ↑ Tajiri, Takashi (1993). "Physical properties of tofu produced using citrus fresh fruit juice and ume-zu as coagulation agent". Nippon Shokuhin Kogyo Gakkaishi (in Japanese). 40 (11): 814–823. doi:10.3136/nskkk1962.40.814. ISSN 0029-0394.
- ↑ Upadhyay, R.K. (2025). Minerals. In: Geology and Mineral Resources. Springer Geology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-0598-9_5
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