h a l f b a k e r yNot so much a thought experiment as a single neuron misfire.
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the blade is very thin, and yet within a network of tubes duct to the 'cutting edge'. through these, a continuous flow of gaseous hydrofluoric acid is fed. you will remember from high school chemistry this stuff will dissolve just about anything - thus breaking the chemical bonds that hold together whatever
it is you want to cut. as a bonus, the surfaces subsequently cut will be left with a thin, teflon-like coating, easing the passage of the rest of the knife.
h\Hydrofluoric acid poisoning
http://www.nlm.nih..../article/002499.htm
The ingestion symptoms sound like too much trouble [Klaatu, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
[link]
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so it wouldn't dissolve the knife? |
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Where does the "thin, teflon-like coating" come from?
[etherman]: Not necessarily; the knife could be made from a type of plastic which is not attacked by hydrofluoric acid. |
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You probably wouldn't want to eat your sandwiches afterwards! |
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Dissolving something with acid is not the same as cutting it. While you could, presumably, eat through most anything given time, sharpness is usually associated with speed of cutting. |
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In terms of cutting edges that eat rather than slice through things, there are plenty out there that are plenty fast - laser light, high-pressure water, sand, etc. |
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While a high-pressure stream of HFl would no doubt couple mechanical with chemical erosion, I really don't think you would want to wield such a device manually. |
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Run it on plain air or water and mix fine sand into that. That way you cut by sand blasting. Gives your food a crunchy, beachy texture. |
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Isn't hydrofluoric acid, the flouride ion part, particularly toxic? |
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Also takes a high toll on the fine china. Not for carving the Thanksgiving roast goose. |
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Why not frikken laser beams? Give a
sandwich that toasted edge to it. |
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Many of the objections here seem to based on the assumption that this knife would be used to cut food, although this is not implicit in the idea. |
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HF is extremely toxic--even a small amount of skin contact can kill from the absorbed fluoride. (And it's interesting to look at the MSDS for a fluoride toothpaste: "Skin Contact: Using appropriate personal protective equipment, remove contaminated clothing and flush exposed area with large amounts of water. Obtain medical attention if skin reaction occurs, which may be immediate or delayed." |
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thank you [angel]; that's why this is not in the 'cutlery' section (what are you others eating that would require the 'sharpest knife ever'? ewww...)
this is a delicate lab tool for use by someone with gloves & goggles (or more likely a robot). the by-products of reaction with fluorine are very stable fluoride compounds: the 'teflon-like coating'... the HF flow is carefully controlled to release only as much as is required, into as small width as possible but giving a reasonable rate of 'cutting'.
what i am clumsily groping for is a 'molecular knife'; something that cuts in a manner more sophisticated than brute force. ultimately i suppose you could use some type of atomic-force microscope, to displace individual atoms to each side. this would be maximally 'sharp', if perhaps a trifle slow |
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A molecular knife in the sense of what is currently used in AIDS research or the more fanciful type as portrayed in Snowcrash? |
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*quickly googles 'snowcrash'*...
sorry [bristolz] i haven't read it (what kind of nerd am i?). can it be more entertaining than the halfbakery? |
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