1 cubic metre ?

[John Rumm]

The pedant in me always wants to answer that question by saying that the lead *probably* weighs more...

The logic being, that while "weight" is commonly confused with mass, it is strictly the force exerted by gravity on a given mass. The 500g is actually the mass. Which round these parts will have a weight of approx

5N. So if you take two lumps of stuff of differering density and sit them on a table, the more dense one will actually exert a slightly higher force due to gravity (i.e. weight) than the less dense one, due to its centre of gravity being closer to that of the Earths.

[Mary Fisher]

Another complication is how they're packed. If the feathers are compressed and formed into a shape with the same footprint as the lead - what then?

Or if the feathers are balanced - literally - against the lead?

Mary

[Ian Stirling]

I don't know if I'd call a part in 3 million per meter exceedingly small. I mean, with a bit of effort, it's not going to be that hard to build a balance that can take a 3 tons, with a sensitivity of 1g.

Then take two 3 ton weights, two lengths of rope, and let one rope be

1m longer than the other, and you've got a difference of a gram between the two pans.

[Bob Eager]

No, the ropes need to be the same length or there is a weight difference anyway...just attach one weight at the end, and one 1, from the end...

[Bob Eager]

That should read "1m" and not "1," of course.

[John Rumm]

indeed!

That was why I said probably...

[Mary Fisher]

Can you get tins of goat curry?

Locally it comes freshly cooked and hot - or at least I though it did ...

Mary

[Ian Stirling]

I meant to add that, but somehow missed it out.

IMO, exceedingly small to me means that I can't measure it without a couple of days effort (excluding phoning suppliers of specialist measurement equipment.)

[Mary Fisher]

Go on, make their day!

Mary

[The Natural Philosopher]

Take 5ml of aspirin solution and have a little lie down.

[Brian Sharrock]

snip

And to return to D-I-Y: I was chuffed when I cut reliably cut off lengths of timber exceedingly close to +/- 0.25 mm of the required length. [Cutting off "n" exampled which are _close_ to each other is very easy : it's amazing, to me, how sensitive the human finger tips are when _feeling_ whether or not pieces of timber are aligned- no need to phone up specialist metrology suppliers - just watch Norm on Telly!]

[T i m]

Hang on, I used to be able to do this sort of stuff in my head .. < mutters "carry the four ^ 15 + the 7" >

.. erm ~ 4.76 × 10-15 f/f .. am I close ?

(Assuming a British Std hydrogen atom of course)

T i m

[in2minds]

thanks to all who participated in this, what turned out to be, overly complicated thread...

I'm now confident I can lay the concrete floor with just 16 mixes, shouldn't take long with 3 of us.

LJ

[Owain]

"T i m" wrote | >25 angstroms per century in furlongs per fortnight | Hang on, I used to be able to do this sort of stuff in my head | .. < mutters "carry the four ^ 15 + the 7" >

| .. erm ~ 4.76 × 10-15 f/f .. am I close ? | (Assuming a British Std hydrogen atom of course)

Aren't we supposed to use new decimal harmonised hydrogen atoms now?

Owain

[Ian Stirling]

"It's easy to repeatably cut timber to length".

[Brian Sharrock]

For _me_; it was a persoanl 'best' when I acquired the Triton table-saw thingy and aligned the blade/fence combination to _reliably_ cut timber to length. { I'd even learnt about kerf's ]

OK. I'm jealous ... :) BTW, with the panel cutting addition, the Triton table will cut (almost) any number of sticks.

[Ian Stirling]

I was referring to Norm, as that seems to be his general MO. :)

[Mary Fisher]

Wotchit, you'll be awarded a Nobel Prize.

Mary

[G&M]

Careful. Some here might think you mean 500 g of the stuff (or more !) and they'll never get up again.

[Andrew McKay]

Some days that seems like an okay solution ;)

Andrew