Pickaxe

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Pickaxe

A pickaxe is a hand tool

Hand tool

A hand tool is a device for performing work on a material or a physical system using only hands. The hand tools can be manually used employing mechanical force, or electrically powered, using electrical current....
with a hard head attached perpendicular

Perpendicular

In geometry, two line or plane , are considered perpendicular to each other if they form congruence adjacent angles angles . The term may be used as a noun or adjective....
to the handle.

Some people make the distinction that a pickaxe has a head with a pointed end and a flat end, and a pick has both ends pointed, or only one end; but most people use the words to mean the same thing.

The head is usually made of metal

Metal

In chemistry, a metal is a chemical element whose atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions , and form metallic bonds between other metal atoms and ionic bonds between nonmetal atoms....
, and the handle is most commonly 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....
, metal

Metal

Fiberglass

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A pickaxe is a hand tool

Hand tool

Perpendicular

Metal

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....
, metal

Metal

Fiberglass

Fiberglass, , is material made from extremely fine fibers of glass. It is used as a reinforcing agent for many polymer products; the resulting composite material, properly known as fiber-reinforced polymer or glass-reinforced plastic , is called "fiberglass" in popular usage....
.

The head is a spike ending in a sharp point, may curve slightly, and often has a counter-weight to improve ease of use. The stronger the spike, the more effectively the tool can pierce the surface. Rocking the embedded spike about and removing it can then break up the surface.

The counterweight nowadays is nearly always a second spike, often with a flat end for prying.

The pointed edge is most often used to break up rocky surfaces

Rock (geology)

In geology, rock is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock....
or other hard surfaces such as concrete or hardened dried earth. The large momentum

Momentum

In classical mechanics, momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object . For more accurate measures of momentum, see the section Momentum#Modern definitions of momentum on this page....
of a heavy pickaxe, combined with the small contact area

Area

Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron....
, makes it very effective for this purpose.

The chisel

Chisel

A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, Rock , or Metalworking....
ed end, if present, is used for purposes including cutting through root

Root

In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial root or aerating ....
s.

Originally used as agricultural tools as far back as prehistoric cultures, picks have also served for tasks ranging from mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of value minerals or other geology materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, Sodium chloride and potash....
to war

War

...
fare. The design has also evolved into other tools such as the plough

Plough

The plough is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture....
and the mattock

Mattock

A mattock is a hand tool similar to a pickaxe. It is distinguished by the head, which makes it particularly suitable for digging or breaking up moderately hard ground....
.

In prehistoric times a large deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae . A number of broadly similar animals from related families within the order even-toed ungulate are often also called deer....
antler

Antler

Antlers are the usually large and complex horn -like appendages of most deer species, mostly worn by males in true horns. Each antler grows from an attachment point on the skull called a pedicle....
was often cut down to its shaft and one tine

Tine

Tine may have one of the following meanings:*Tine – a 'prong' on a fork or similar implement, or any similar structure*Tine – the biggest dairy producer in Norway...
and used as a one-pointed pick.

Pickaxe handle

A pickaxe handle, without the head, is often used, often unofficially, as a baton

Club (weapon)

A club is among the simplest of all weapons. A club is essentially a short staff , or stick, usually made of wood, and wielded as a weapon....
: for example it is an official issue baton

Club (weapon)

A club is among the simplest of all weapons. A club is essentially a short staff , or stick, usually made of wood, and wielded as a weapon....
used in the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
.

A pickaxe handle has been known to be used while scuba diving

Scuba diving

SCUBA diving is Underwater diving, or taking part in another activity, while using a scuba set. By carrying a source of breathing gas , the scuba diver is able to stay underwater longer than with the simple breath-holding techniques used in snorkeling and free-diving, and is not hindered by air lines to a remote air source....
to fend off shark

Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full Cartilage skeleton and a highly Streamlines, streaklines and pathlinesd body. They respire with the use of five to seven gill slits....
s by hitting them bluntly on the nose with it (underwater, by jabbing with it, not swinging it).

A normal pickaxe handle is made of ash

Ash tree

Fraxinus is a genus of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The leaf are opposite , and mostly pinnately-compound, simple in a few species....
or hickory

Hickory

Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as Hickory. The genus includes 17?19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaf and large nut ....
wood and is about three feet long and weighs about 2.5 pound

Pound (mass)

The pound or pound-mass is a Units of measurement of massused in the Imperial unit, United States customary units and other systems of measurement....
s. British Army

British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
pickaxe handles must by regulation be exactly three feet long, for use in measuring in the field.

Pickaxe

Pickaxe handle

See also