We deal with objects every day without giving their inner workings all that much thought. That is, until something goes wrong and they mysteriously stop working. If we’re lucky, sometimes it’s only a battery that needs replacing or a port that needs cleaning. But there are more serious cases, too. And that’s when, for the adventurous, the screwdrivers come out, sleeves are rolled up, and metaphorical guts are spilled. It’s hard not to see the appeal.
Sure, there’s something rewarding about fixing something yourself. It certainly beats having to replace it. But there’s also something innately satisfying about seeing an object’s innards—all those moving parts packaged so neatly and discreetly that we forget they’re even there. And that’s kind of the appeal of many of the cross-sections we’ve gathered for you today. You might never have stumbled upon objects like these, let alone had the opportunity or means to cut them open yourself. But there’s something fascinating about seeing what’s hidden beneath the surface, and surprisingly often, the results can be pretty exquisite.
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Geologist Cut Rock In Half, Found The Cookie Monster
Cross Section Of Cables
Beautiful Fukang Meteorite
Nautilus Shell Cut In Half. The Chambers Are Clearly Visible And Arranged In A Logarithmic Spiral
The Alvord Meteorite, Found On An Iowa Farm In 1976, Iron Octahedrite Weighing 38.5 Lbs/17.5 Kg, About 18"/45.7cm Across
Had To Cut A Sunflower In Half Today At Work, Thought It Might Be Appreciated Here
Geode
What Happens When A Sphere Of Aluminum 1cm In Diameter Hits A Block Of Aluminum At ~15,000 Mph. Space Debris Impact Research Conducted By The Esa
Cool to see not just the impact crater, but the transferred shock to the back side and the 'trauma' there.
Elephant's Foot
It's always wild to see, that there's almost a human foot in there!
Cut Banana Tree Trunks
Poppy Capsule
Pulled A Paper Wasp Nest From The Corner Of My Shed And It Gave Me A Perfect Cross Section
Firework Shell
Rattlesnake Rattle [500×375]
Tortoise Skeleton/Shell
This Rock In New Zealand
Layers Of Sediment
"But the earth is only 6000 years old!" say the myopic brainwashed bible bangers.
This Chair At My Local Furniture Store
That's a neat way to show what you'll be getting when you pay for it. Also, a display of the engineering and workmanship quality.
Cross Section Of A Whale Rib
I think we got the idea of honeycomb filled aircraft components that are strong but light from things like this.
“Lasagna” Style Bulb Planting
An Accordion Cut In Half
Cross Section Of Our Painter’s 1-Year Old Stir Stick
Look up Fordite. It's the paint chipped off the old manufacturing plant paint carts that pulled automotive bodies through paint booths back in the day.
Friend Said I Should Put This Here: Peony Bud
A Brand New Hd750, Ge CT Scanner ~ Coverless
Pearls
A Lock
A Mature Hedge (Photo: Paul Debois)
This Jawbreaker Nearly Perfectly Broken In Half
Cactus Cut In Half: Not What I Expected
So a wood like core supporting a spongy mass that can absorb masses of water. Cool.
A Russian Submarine
To think that so many things that humans travel in are extremely complex and if just one part fails, or was assembled late on a Friday when the worker is in a hurry to go home, that one breaking part can mean catastrophe.
The Bloodwood Tree, When Cut, Bleeds A Bright Red-Colored Sap Which Looks Like Fresh Blood From A Wound. When Trees Are Only Damaged (Not Completely Chopped Down), This Sticky Blood-Like Sap Actually Seals The Cut And Heals It
Cutaway Of A Water Heater From A Home With Hard Water
This is why water heaters should be completely drained down once a year and the sacrificial anode replaced when used up. Not DIY without training -- call a plumber first.
Pine Cone
A Bowling Ball
Golden Gate Bridge Cable - 27,572 Cables Bundled Together
Rubber Ducky Cut In Half To Show The Bacteria! When Was The Last Time You Sanitized Your Rubber Ducky?
Termite Mound
That doesn't look like the underside of the termite mound that David Attenborough stuck his head into. Must be different internals for different termite species.
Tree Fern Cross Section
Mammoth Tusk Cross Section
Inside Of A Frag Grenade
Lime
This Stalactite Cut In Half
Zippo Lighter
Spring Ring Jewelry Clasp
Fancy Donut Cake Cut In Half
Range Rover
Kiwano Melon Cut In Half
Office Printer
I'm pretty sure we've all thought about splitting one of these in half.
Baseball
Did you know? "Currently, before all Major League (MLB) and Minor League (MiLB) baseball games, an umpire or clubhouse attendant rubs six dozen or more balls with mud. The practice is required by MLB Rule 4.01(c), which states that all baseballs shall be "properly rubbed so that the gloss is removed"." "The most prominent brand of specially prepared mud that is sold specifically for this purpose is Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud. Although official rules do not require using specially prepared mud, and although other brands do exist, none of the other brands are well known, and the market for specially prepared mud is so small that the Blackburne brand does not generate enough revenue to pay for a single person's full-time employment."
Rather Than Build A New Cruise Ship, Silversea Has Decided To Cut Their Current Ship In Half With “Military Precision” And Add Another 50 Feet Of Space Right In The Middle Of The Vessel. The Project Cost $100 Million And Took Over 450,000 Man Hours To Cut The 36,000 Ton Ship In Half
A Canelé Is A French Pastry With A Custard Center And Caramelized Crust
A Cross-Section Of A Middles Ages Era Castle Latrine Shaft
Cross Section Of A Headphone Plug And Jack (AKA 1/8" Or 3.5mm Phone Plug)
Canadian Pennies: Pre- And Post-1996
This needs an empty space for Post-2012. We stopped making and using them entirely, once the cost to manufacture one exceeded its value.
A Visa Credit Card
Cereus Cactus
Artichoke
Camera Lens Cutaway
Nuclear Waste Barrel
Inside A Fire Alarm Switch
Hms Victory Wooden Model Cross Section
100 Pair Telephone Cable
Berlin Wall [864x864]
Paint Waste Drain
Porcelain Toilet Base In The Plumbing Lab At George Brown College
Cargo Ship
Model Of A 17th Century English Merchantman Ship
This Toothpaste Tube Cut In Half
A Fire Hydrant
The actual valve gate for the fire hydrant is usually about ten feet or so below ground surface. The hydrant is just a support structure for the valve actuating rod and the outlet pipe for the water with hose connection ports. So when you see the Hollywood fire hydrant get smashed by a car and then erupt, that's not what would usually happen in reality. What would usually happen in reality if you smash into a fire hydrant is pretty much nothing; mainly a busted car and just a bent hydrant, maybe broke off, but almost certainly not erupting.
Wasp Nest
2 Cans Of Soup Cut Perfectly In Half
Roman Well [3264×2448]
Jet Engine
I’m cruelly surprised by how simply this looks. Other items on this page are sooo much more complicated yet do quotidian things, but a plane that’s sposta flight someone around is THAT simple? I’ve a feeling it’s more complicated somewhere we can’t see?
Tank (Leopard 1?) Cross Section
Pepper Mill [736×968]
A Shoe Cut In Half
The Human Heart
This one absolutely needs a banana for scale. It's bigger than you think.
Ss Bessemer - An Experimental Victorian Steamship With An Anti-Roll Passenger Cabin, 1875. [1500×1206]
I'm guessing it didn't work or wasn't practical/cost effective to build.
The "Love Boat" In LEGO
Deck Of Cards Cut In Half [4032 X 3024] [oc]
Cut-Away Of A Boiler In A Steam Locomotive. National Railway Museum
A Tape Measure
A Cup Of Noodles
Gameboy Games Cut In Half! (Inspired By An Eli5 Post)
A King Crabber In Calm Water On The Bering Sea Showing Carb In The Holds
Ibm Laptop [960x960]
Outcrop Of A Coal Seam In Antarctica [xpost /R/Humanforscale][850×1290]
1950s Era U.S. Bomb Shelter Design [1200 X 954]
Probably be more miserable ending one's days in that than being obliterated in a few seconds.
Amazon Echo
Someone with a katana had clearly had enough of Alexa getting everything wrong
Home Of The Simpsons. 742 Evergreen Terrence, Springfield
Baseball
Cross-Section Of $277m U.S. Navy Minesweeper Being Dismantled And Hauled Away
Bucket Of Fried Chicken Cut In Half
Fabulous! Can we have more like these BP? An article like this is worth a dozen of MIL and bridezilla stories.
I absolutely love cutaways. Creating engine cutaways is an absolute art form, older ones from the very early parts of the machine age are especially awesome.
As Classics IV would say, “Tickets torn in half. Memories in bits and pieces.”
Fabulous! Can we have more like these BP? An article like this is worth a dozen of MIL and bridezilla stories.
I absolutely love cutaways. Creating engine cutaways is an absolute art form, older ones from the very early parts of the machine age are especially awesome.
As Classics IV would say, “Tickets torn in half. Memories in bits and pieces.”
