The most dangerous type of paper is 65 millionths of a metre thick 鈥� at least when it comes to paper cuts.
鈥淚 got many paper cuts and frankly they were starting to annoy me,鈥� says at the Technical University of Denmark. After failing to find the cause in existing scientific studies, which he says mostly focus on the risk of infection, he and his colleagues decided to set up their own experiment.
They gathered several types of paper of different thicknesses, including tissue paper, print magazines, office paper, book pages, business cards and printed photos. They tested each paper鈥檚 ability to cut a human finger by running it against a slab of ballistics gelatine, which is known to accurately mimic skin. The researchers created a small robot that pushed different paper samples onto the gelatine at various angles of attack.
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Video recordings of these papery blows revealed the most hazardous situation: paper that is about 65 micrometres thick approaching the gelatine slab at a 15-degree angle. This type of paper is used for dot matrix printers as well as printed scientific journals.
Jensen says that what earns this type of paper its hurtful superlative is that it is not so thin that it can buckle and radically deform when in contact with the gelatine 鈥� or a hand. At the same time, it is not so thick that its impact would be blunted due to pressure being distributed across the paper.
The findings inspired the researchers to create a recyclable knife with a blade made from scrap paper, which was most effective when 65 micrometres thick. Their 鈥淧apermachete鈥� could cut apples, cucumbers and even chicken鈥� so long as it didn鈥檛 get too wet.
Journal reference:
Physical Review E,
