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A nutcracker is a mechanical device for cracking nuts
Nut (fruit)

Nut is a general term for the large, dry, oily seed or fruit of some plant. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts....
. Usually they work on the principle
Principle

A principle is a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption. A rule or code of conduct. The laws or facts of nature underlying the working of an artificial device....
 of moment
Moment (physics)

In physics, the term "moment" can refer to many different concepts:*Moment of force is a synonym for torque, an important basic concept in physics, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering....
s as described in Archimedes
Archimedes

Archimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematics, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity....
' analysis of the lever
Lever

In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or wiktionary:pivot point to multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object....
. The earliest use of the term nutcracker in English dates to 1481.

facturers produce modern nutcrackers — designed solely to crack nuts — usually somewhat resembling pliers
Pliers

Sorry, no overview for this topic
, but with the pivot
Pivot

Pivot may refer to* Pivot, the fulcrum as part of a lever* Pivot joint, a kind of joint between bones in the body* Pivot turn, a dance move...
 point at the end beyond the nut, rather than in the middle.






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Notenkraker
A nutcracker is a mechanical device for cracking nuts
Nut (fruit)

Nut is a general term for the large, dry, oily seed or fruit of some plant. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts....
. Usually they work on the principle
Principle

A principle is a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption. A rule or code of conduct. The laws or facts of nature underlying the working of an artificial device....
 of moment
Moment (physics)

In physics, the term "moment" can refer to many different concepts:*Moment of force is a synonym for torque, an important basic concept in physics, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering....
s as described in Archimedes
Archimedes

Archimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematics, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity....
' analysis of the lever
Lever

In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or wiktionary:pivot point to multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object....
. The earliest use of the term nutcracker in English dates to 1481.

Functional

Manufacturers produce modern nutcrackers — designed solely to crack nuts — usually somewhat resembling pliers
Pliers

Sorry, no overview for this topic
, but with the pivot
Pivot

Pivot may refer to* Pivot, the fulcrum as part of a lever* Pivot joint, a kind of joint between bones in the body* Pivot turn, a dance move...
 point at the end beyond the nut, rather than in the middle. These are also used for cracking the shells of crab
Crab

Crabs are Decapoda crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax....
 and lobster
Lobster

Clawed lobsters compose a family of large marine crustaceans. Lobsters are economically important as seafood, forming the basis of a global industry that nets United States dollar1.8 billion in trade annually....
 in order to make the meat
Meat

In modern English usage, meat most often refers to animal biological tissue used as food, mostly skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also refer to offal, including livers, skin, brains, bone marrow, kidneys, in some countries lungs, and a variety of other internal organs as well as blood....
 inside available for eat
EAT

EAT or eat may refer to:* Eating, the process of consuming food, for the purpose of providing for the nutritional needs of an animal* EAT., a UK sandwich shop chain...
ing.

Parrot
Parrot

File:Ara ararauna -eating -Wilhelma Zoo-8-2rc.jpgParrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genus that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most warm and tropical regions....
s use their beak
Beak

The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which, in addition to eating, is used for Personal grooming#In animals, manipulating objects, killing prey, probing for food, Courtship#Courtship in the animal kingdom and feeding their young....
s as natural nutcrackers, in much the same way smaller bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s crack seed
Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
s. In this case, the pivot point stands opposite the nut, at the jaw.

Decorative

Nutcrackers
Nutcrackers in the form of wood
Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
en carving
Carving

Carving can mean*Bone carving*Chip carving*EQ carving, an application of equalization in audio mixing*Gourd art*Ice sculpture*Ivory carving...
s of a soldier
Soldier

A soldier is a general English term that refers to a land component of national armed forces.In most societies of the world, "soldier" is also a general term for any member of the land forces including Commissioned officer and non-commissioned officers....
, knight
Knight

File:Gothic armor 2.jpgKnight is the term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. In the Commonwealth of Nations, knighthood is a non-heritable form of gentry....
, king, or other profession
Profession

"A profession is a vocation founded upon specialised educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain"....
 have existed since at least the 15th century. These nutcrackers portray a person with a large mouth
Mouth

The mouth, buccal cavity, or oral cavity is the first portion of the alimentary canal that receives food and begins digestion by mechanically breaking up the solid food particles into smaller pieces and mixing them with saliva....
 which the operator opens by lifting a lever
Lever

In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or wiktionary:pivot point to multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object....
 in the back of the figurine
Figurine

A figurine is a statuette that represents a human, deity, or animal. Figurines may be realistic or iconic, depending on the skill and intention of the creator....
. Originally one could insert a nut in the big-toothed mouth, press down and thereby crack the nut. Modern nutcrackers in this style serve mostly for decoration
Beauty

Beauty is a characteristic of a person, Location , Object , or idea that provides a perception experience of pleasure, Value , or satisfaction....
, mainly at Christmas
Christmas

Christmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts Twelve Days of Christmas....
 time. The ballet The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker Op. 71, is a fairy tale-ballet in two acts, three scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composed in 1891?92. Alexandre Dumas, p?re's adaptation of the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E....
 derives its name from this festive holiday decoration.

The carving of nutcrackers—as well as of religious figures and of crib
Nativity scene

File:Presepe naples rome2.jpgA nativity scene is a depiction of the nativity of Jesus as described in the gospels of Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke....
s—developed as a cottage industry in forest
Forest

File:Stara planina suma.jpgA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on various criteria....
ed rural
Rural

Rural areas are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low populations. Today, 75 percent of the United States' inhabitants live in suburban and urban areas, but cities occupy only 2 percent of the country....
 areas of Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
. The most famous nutcracker carvings come from Sonneberg
Sonneberg (district)

Sonneberg is a Kreis in the south of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are the districts Hildburghausen , Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, and the Bavarian districts Kronach and Coburg ....
 in Thuringia
Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is located in central Germany. It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen States of Germany ....
 (also a center of doll
Doll

A doll is an object that represents a baby or other human being, but includes likenesses of animals and imaginary creatures. Dolls have been around since the dawn of human civilization, and have been fashioned from a vast array of materials, ranging from stone, clay, wood, bone, cloth and paper, to porcelain, china, rubber and plastic....
making) and from the Ore Mountains. Wood-carving usually provided the only income for the people living there. Today the travel industry supplements their income by bringing visitors to the remote areas.

Steinbach Nutcrackers have become popular in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 as well, and a recreated "Bavarian village" of Leavenworth, Washington
Leavenworth, Washington

Leavenworth is a city in Chelan County, Washington, Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee, Washington–East Wenatchee, Washington Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metropolitan area....
 even features a Nutcracker Museum
Museum

A museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, for the purposes of education, study, and entertainment", as defined by the International Coun...
. Many other materials also serve to make decorated nutcrackers, such as porcelain
Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and ....
, silver
Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
, and brass
Brass

Brass is any alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties. In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin....
; the museum displays samples.

Carvings by famous names like Junghanel, Klaus Mertens, Karl, Olaf Kolbe, Petersen, Christian Ulbricht and especially the Steinbach nutcrackers have become collector
Collecting

The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector....
s' items.

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