formula1

I was reading this post today and looking to see if someone actually answered GMMAT's question! I was going to answer it myself and get to the end of the post and see BigBulls post. No need to answer anymore!

BigBulls, you win the prize!!! Higher probability is the correct answer!

TreednNC

Ok you get a 2.5" cut and a 2" cut....which takes more stitches to sew up?

TreednNC

Exactly!

I dont care if you shoot Rage, Muzzy, Joe-Bob's custom heavy duty sheet metal cut outs with a screw welded to it or what. 2.5" of cut is better than 2" of cut in terms of likely ness to hit a vital organ, as mentioned above. The point I was EVENTUALLY trying to get at is how much KE does it take to drive a 4 blade fixed head cutting 2.5" all the way through versus an a comparable expandable such as the Rage, with 2" of cutting surface

txjourneyman

Well that opens up a whole new can of worms!

formula1

Kinetic energy is a little different issue.

Given a 4 blade fixed head (2.5" of cut) vs. a 2 blade fixed head (2.5" of cut) with exactly the same blade angle from the ferrule and exactly the same sharpness of the blade, I believe the math will show that increased diameter of the 2 blade and the increased friction of these blades because they are further away from the center of flight, the 2 blade will require slightly (very slightly) more kinetic energy.

This problem in reality is much more complex. You have expandable heads, different sharpness, different blade angles, different blade thickness, etc. In general, however, it will take more KE for the 2 blade than the 4 blade. And obviously, there is also considerable loss of KEon impactin the case of an expandable to consider. The 4 blade fixed head willlose KE at a more even rateon impact.

I have not done the math, these are just my thoughts based upon my training!