Abstract
Motion analysis comparison between experts and non-experts of knife movement when cutting food. The motion analysis technique was used to investigate the differences in knife movement between experts and non-experts while cutting cucumbers and carrots into thin slices. The amount of time it took for the non-experts to cut carrots and cucumbers into thin slices was longer than by the experts, and the slice thickness varied greatly. The knife tended to move in a zigzag pattern in the up-down and forward-backward directions when handled by the non-experts. There was also a marked movement to the right when cutting food and lifting the knife, making the movements extremely irregular and preventing a constant knife angle from being maintained. There were differences in the slice thickness and completion time between cucumbers and carrots, but not in the maximum knife lowering speed or average knife angle. A zigzag movement was apparent, even by the experts, when cutting carrots into thin slices.
