Lesson plan
Sectility
Sectility is the ability of a material to be cut into thin pieces with a sharp edge. Most materials that are not sectile will be broken into rougher pieces when cut. Most metals and paper are sectile. is a sectile material. Sectility can be used to distinguish minerals of similar appearance, and is a form of tenacity. 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. 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.
Article summary
Sectility is the ability of a material to be cut into thin pieces with a sharp edge. Most materials that are not sectile will be broken into rougher pieces when cut. Most metals and paper are sectile. is a sectile material. Sectility can be used to distinguish minerals of similar appearance, and is a form of tenacity. 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. 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.
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.