fragments

Fragments are pieces that have broken off from a larger whole. The term is used across disciplines to describe remnants, shreds, or units that retain some properties of the original object but are incomplete or separated.

In grammar, a sentence fragment is a clause or phrase that is not a complete sentence; common causes include a missing subject or predicate. Fragments can be used as a stylistic device in literature and journalism, but in formal writing they often indicate an incomplete thought.

Archaeology and material culture study pottery sherds, glass fragments, inscriptions, and other debris. Analyzing fragments helps determine dates, origins, manufacturing techniques, and the behavior of past peoples, while fragmentary artifacts may indicate breakage, reuse, or discard.

In biology and medicine, fragments include cytoplasmic fragments such as platelets, tissue fragments obtained in biopsy, and DNA fragments produced by enzymatic cutting. Fragmentation patterns are analyzed in genetics and pathology, and fragmentation can result from cellular processes or sample handling.

In computing, fragmentation refers to data scattered across a storage device; file fragmentation slows access, while defragmentation reorganizes data. Memory fragmentation and packet fragmentation in networks affect performance and reliability.

In physics and chemistry, fragmentation describes the breakup of a larger entity into smaller pieces, such as fragment ions in mass spectrometry or fragmentation in high-energy collisions. Fragmentation mechanisms help researchers understand reaction pathways and structural properties.

The common thread is division into parts that retain some relation to the whole. Fragments are used to study structure, history, biology, and behavior across many fields.