Final answer:
Halving the stopover in tool path operations does not change the total cutting distance, but it increases the operation's efficiency by reducing non-productive travel time.
Step-by-step explanation:
Reducing stopover by half in the context of tool paths likely means that the length of the non-cutting movement between operations or cuts is minimized. Doing this does not actually change the total cutting distance that the tool travels when it is engaged with the material. Instead, it addresses the efficiency of the tool path by minimizing idle travel time. Thus, the total length of the tool path remains largely unaffected; it is the non-productive segments of the path that see reduction.
So, the statement that reducing stopover by half will approximately reduce the distance that the object travels by half, keeping the time constant, is not accurate. The total cutting length, which defines the tool path when the tool is in contact with the material, is not reduced by halving stopover time. However, the overall efficiency of the operation can be increased by reducing idle stopover times.