I Didn’t Know That . . .

Q: Why does a newspaper tear more easily up and down rather than crosswise?

A: That’s a built-in feature to minimize tearing of the newsprint when the paper is being printed. When wood is pulped to make paper, it is broken down into a pulp of relatively long fibers with a consistency like toothpaste. In a paper factory, the pulp is squeezed out onto screens that are run through rollers to flatten it. This process lines up the fibers in the direction of travel, which is the same direction the paper travels through a printing press. If you hold a newspaper up to a light, you can see some of the fibers.