Cracking may refer to: * Cracking, the formation of a

fracture Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress (mechanics), stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacemen ...

or partial fracture in a solid material studied as

fracture mechanics Fracture mechanics is the field of mechanics concerned with the study of the propagation of cracks in materials. It uses methods of analytical solid mechanics to calculate the driving force on a crack and those of experimental solid mechanics t ...

** Performing a sternotomy *

Fluid catalytic cracking Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is the conversion process used in petroleum refineries to convert the high-boiling point, high-molecular weight hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum (crude oils) into gasoline, alkene gases, and other petroleum produc ...

, a catalytic process widely used in oil refineries for cracking large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller molecules *

Cracking (chemistry) In petrochemistry, petroleum geology and organic chemistry, cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or long-chain hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking ...

, the decomposition of complex organic molecules into smaller ones *

Cracking joints Joint cracking is the manipulation of joints to produce a sound and related "popping" sensation. It is sometimes performed by physical therapists, chiropractors, and osteopaths pursuing a variety of outcomes. The cracking mechanism and the resu ...

, the practice of manipulating one's bone joints to make a sharp sound * Cracking codes, see

cryptanalysis Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic se ...

* Whip cracking *

Safe cracking Safe-cracking is the process of opening a safe without either the combination or the key. Physical methods Safes have widely different designs, construction methods, and locking mechanisms. A safe cracker needs to know the specifics of whichever ...

* ''Crackin, band featuring Lester Abrams *

Packing and cracking Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries to advantage a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. T ...

, a method of creating voting districts to give a political party an advantage In computing: * Another name for security hacking; the practice of defeating

computer security Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and computer network, n ...

. *

Password cracking In cryptanalysis and computer security, password cracking is the process of guessing passwords protecting a computer system. A common approach (brute-force attack) is to repeatedly try guesses for the password and to check them against an availab ...

, the process of discovering the plaintext of an encrypted computer password. *

Software cracking Software cracking (known as "breaking" mostly in the 1980s) is an act of removing copy protection from a software. Copy protection can be removed by applying a specific ''crack''. A ''crack'' can mean any tool that enables breaking software p ...

, the defeating of software copy protection.

See also