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How much does lead weigh?

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Chris

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Jan 6, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/6/97
to

Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.

Chris


Tim Carter

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Jan 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/7/97
to

In article <32d1417e...@news.mindlink.net> chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca (Chris ) writes:
>From: chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca (Chris )
>Subject: How much does lead weigh?
>Date: Mon, 06 Jan 1997 18:57:11 GMT

>Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
>I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.

>Chris

11.68 grams per cubic centimeter

tim

usual thingys

Don Wilkins

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Jan 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/7/97
to

On Mon, 06 Jan 1997 18:57:11 GMT, chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca
(Chris ) wrote:

>Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?

Ya gotta tell us how much weight and what quantity of lead and how it
needs to be attached..

>I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
>

The correct question is

What is the density of lead?

In the "whatever" units
The answer is 11.34 gm/cc

bbe...@aol.com

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Jan 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/7/97
to

The specific gravity of lead is: 11.34 (i.e., denser than water). The
weight of
a cubic foot of water is 62.4 pounds. So a cubic foot of lead weighs 707
pounds, or .41 pounds per cubic inch.
Other common heavy metals:
Gold: 1200
Platinum: 1334
tungsten: 1175
Uranium: 1167
Plutonium: 1238

I included the last because of a previous thread that endlessly
discussed the
use of plutonium as model train weights; having apparently confused
plutonium
with spent uranium. The former is illegal, highly radioactive, and
incredibly poisonous. The latter is readily available in ton quantities.
It (spent uranium) is
in common use to weigh the keels of racing sailboats.
For authoritative information on the properties of almost all known
elements and compounds, refer to The Handbook of Chemistry and Physics,
The Chemical Rubber Co, publishers -- which is where I got the above.

Boris

.


-------------------------------------------------------------------
Boris Beizer PhD Consulting and Seminars on
1232 Glenbrook Road Software Testing and
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006 Quality Assurance
TEL: 215-572-5580
FAX: 215-886-0144
Email: bbe...@acm.org, bbe...@aol.com

NOTE:
AOL's discontinuation of its GNN service
has forced the above address change. My old
address (bbe...@gnn.com) will not be active
after March 1, 1997
----------------------------------------------------------------------

pnpn...@aol.com

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Jan 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/7/97
to

In article <32d1417e...@news.mindlink.net>,
chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca (Chris ) writes:

>Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?

>I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
>
>

Not sure but I do know a pund of Lead weighs the same as a pounbd of
feathers. :)>

Peter
Wasting bandwidth top beat Fitch the Fastest.

art braden

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Jan 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/7/97
to

Chris wrote:
>
> Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
> I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
>
> Chris

according to the table I have the weight of lead per cubic inch is .410
lbs.

Art Braden

Paul Pierce

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Jan 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/7/97
to pnpn...@aol.com

pnpn...@aol.com wrote:
>
> In article <32d1417e...@news.mindlink.net>,
> chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca (Chris ) writes:
>
> >Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
> >I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
> >
> >
>
> Not sure but I do know a pund of Lead weighs the same as a pounbd of
> feathers. :)>
>
> Peter
> Wasting bandwidth top beat Fitch the Fastest.


But more than a pound of gold...

--
Paul in AJ AZ NRA Endowment Member

Checkout the Metal Web News at:
new address (11/23/96)

http://www.ten.k12.tn.us/~wgray

Checkout the FAQ at:
http://PLAINS.UWYO.EDU/%7Emetal/index.html

Randolph Lee

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Jan 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/7/97
to

In article <19970107183...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
bbe...@aol.com wrote:

>It (spent uranium) is
>in common use to weigh the keels of racing sailboats.

I would not say common use... it was used once that I know of on a yacht
that I think hailed from south africa... It is not allowed under any of the
current raiting rules I think... under the so called unobtainum rules... (
Used to crew on a 46 ft IOR mark I sail boat that had Titainum Priamary
winches... saved a few kilos... but cost the earth... things of beauty they
were too... but the MarK II IOR rules banned them... happens all the
time...

Randolph Lee
Windshadow Engineering

Frank Ross

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Jan 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/7/97
to Chris

Chris wrote:
>
> Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
> I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
>
> Chris


Chemical lead is 0.41 lbs/cu.in.

=Frank Ross=

clem jensen

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Jan 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/7/97
to

Lead weighs 0.4096 lbs. per cubic inch,or 707.7 lbs per cubic foot

darylb

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Jan 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/7/97
to

In article <32d1417e...@news.mindlink.net>,
chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca (Chris ) wrote:

> Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
> I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
>
> Chris

Quite a bit!

hope that helps ;^)
Cheers
Daryl - try 0.41015 lbs per cubic inch

--
- Clouds are high flying fogs.
- ł...ethidium bromide is a potent mutagen and carcinogen, and
the Merck index lists it as having a somewhat bitter taste˛
- All waste ultimately becomes food.

gemars

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Jan 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/7/97
to tca...@csir.co.za

gemars wrote:

>
> Tim Carter wrote:
> >
> > In article <32d1417e...@news.mindlink.net> chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca (Chris ) writes:
> > >From: chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca (Chris )
> > >Subject: How much does lead weigh?
> > >Date: Mon, 06 Jan 1997 18:57:11 GMT
> >

> > >I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
> >
> > >Chris
> >

> > 11.68 grams per cubic centimeter
> >
> > tim
> >
> > usual thingys
>

> Try 0.397 #/in3 = 0.0242 #/cc = 0.0000535 gm/cc

ERRATA: That 0.0000535 should have been 10.97 gm/cc (bad calculator!)
Don"t know why the diff with other report of 11.68 gm/cc. I used
the 0.397 #/in3 from Machinery HB 24ed, and factored over to gm/cc.

Gerry McLaughlin

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Jan 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/8/97
to


Chris <chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca> wrote in article
<32d1417e...@news.mindlink.net>...


> Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?

> I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
>
> Chris
>
>

Acording to Machinery's Handbook #24 Lead weighs .397 pounds per cubic
inch.


Gerry

Jim Waggener

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Jan 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/8/97
to

chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca (Chris ) wrote:

>Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
>I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.

>Chris

A pound of lead weighs EXACTLY half as much as two pounds of solid
gold :-)


Tony Bigras

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Jan 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/8/97
to

Paul Pierce wrote:

>
> pnpn...@aol.com wrote:
> >
> > In article <32d1417e...@news.mindlink.net>,
> > chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca (Chris ) writes:
> >
> > >Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
> > >I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Not sure but I do know a pund of Lead weighs the same as a pounbd of
> > feathers. :)>
> >
> > Peter
> > Wasting bandwidth top beat Fitch the Fastest.
>
> But more than a pound of gold...

Yea this is one of my favorite tricky trick questions.
Most people know that a pound of lead and feathers weigh the same so they
tell you that a pound of gold and feathers weigh the same if you ask
them.

In fact a pound of gold is lighter than a pound of feathers or lead.

The trick is that a pound of lead or feathers is 454 grams but a pound of
gold ( troy weight for precious metals ) is around 350 grams ( dont
recall exactly )

Do you know Paul?

Tony

Frank Ross

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Jan 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/8/97
to

bbe...@aol.com wrote:

> It (spent uranium) is
> in common use to weigh the keels of racing sailboats.

Not anymore. All sanctioning bodies have banned it.

Frank Ross
S/V Double Eagle USA 97357

Paul Pierce

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Jan 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/8/97
to Tony Bigras

Tony Bigras wrote:
>
> Paul Pierce wrote:
> >
> > pnpn...@aol.com wrote:
> > >
> > > Not sure but I do know a pund of Lead weighs the same as a pounbd of
> > > feathers. :)>
> > >
> > > Peter
> > > Wasting bandwidth top beat Fitch the Fastest.
> >
> > But more than a pound of gold...
>
> Yea this is one of my favorite tricky trick questions.
> Most people know that a pound of lead and feathers weigh the same so they
> tell you that a pound of gold and feathers weigh the same if you ask
> them.
>
> In fact a pound of gold is lighter than a pound of feathers or lead.
>
> The trick is that a pound of lead or feathers is 454 grams but a pound of
> gold ( troy weight for precious metals ) is around 350 grams ( dont
> recall exactly )
>
> Do you know Paul?
>
> Tony

I'd always heard there were 12 ounces in a Troy pound, 16 oz in an avd.
pound.
Kirk Hays (previous poster this afternoon) mentioned troy ounces
being heavier. He says there are .454 kgm/lb avd. which is what I
was
taught. He says there are .373 kgm/lb troy. That far I was with it.
However he mentions there are different ounces... Suddenly I am not so
sure
of it. I'd like to know how many kgm in a troy oz. That way we would
be
comparing apples with apples or gold with gold ):^)).

Guess we'll have to go to our jewelery friends.

darylb

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Jan 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/8/97
to

Very interesting we are getting different answers:

- Machinery's Handbook #24 Lead weighs .397 pounds per cubic inch
- Drummond McCall catalog 0.41015 lbs per cubic inch (couple of other
posts at .41)
-Marks Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers the density of lead is
710 lbs / cu ft (.4108 lb/cu in).
- a post stating CAST: 708 lbs/cu ft (.4097lbs/cu in), ROLLED: 711
lbs/cu ft (.4114lbs/cu in)
- a post at 0.4096 lbs. per cubic inch,or 707.7 lbs per cubic foot

Must be the different processing methods. This leads me to wonder how do
they get the chemical "weight" (density) of a metal if there are slight
differences in these processes and thier end density.

Cheers
Daryl

Mark S. Whitlow

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Jan 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/8/97
to

chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca (Chris ) wrote:

>Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
>I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.

>Chris


CAST: 708 lbs/cu ft
ROLLED: 711 lbs/cu ft


Kirk Hays

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Jan 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/8/97
to

In article <5aus3b$1...@nw101.infi.net>,

Jim Waggener <cre...@norfolk.infi.net> wrote:
>chris_d...@mindlink.bc.ca (Chris ) wrote:
>
>>Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
>>I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
>
>>Chris
>
>A pound of lead weighs EXACTLY half as much as two pounds of solid
>gold :-)

<How embarrassing, on a group where measurement is debated so often ;->

No, it doesn't, as a pound of gold weighs less than a pound of lead.

That's right.

You see, they use different pounds - lead is measured using avoirdupois
pounds, at .454 kilograms/lb avdp, while gold is measured in troy pounds,
at .373 kilograms/lb t.

Interestingly enough, troy ounces are heavier than avdp ounces, but
there are fewer troy ounces to the troy pound, versus avdp.

--
Kirk Hays
[I don't speak for Sequent.]


Pete Wolcott

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Jan 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/8/97
to

Chris,

Specific gravity of cast lead is 11.37 and 11.37 for rolled.

Specific gravity. The ratio of the weight of a given volume of material
to the weight of an equal volume of water at 4 degrees C.

Water is about 62.417 pounds per cu ft.

So 62.414/1728=.0361 lbs/cu in. for water

.0361 X 11.37=.4107 lbs/cu in. for cast lead.

Seattle neighbor,

Pete

Kay R. Fisher

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Jan 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/8/97
to Chris

Chris wrote:
>
> Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
> I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
>
> Chris

According to a chart in the back of my "The Home Machinist's Handbook"
by Doug Briney it is 0.410 lbs. per cu. in.

Bye
Kay R. Fisher

cbear...@aol.com

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Jan 9, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/9/97
to

In article <32D2AC...@net.com>, Paul Encoyand <enco...@net.com>
writes:

>
>> Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
>> I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
>>
>> Chris

I would think any quantity of lead would be heavy enough without attaching
a weight!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to post this Peter is not here to do it!

Cecil in OK

Randy Gordon-Gilmore

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Jan 9, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/9/97
to
said...

> I included the last because of a previous thread that endlessly
> discussed the use of plutonium as model train weights; having apparently
> confused plutonium with spent uranium.

Please get your facts straight! I specifically discussed spent uranium as the
model railroad weighting medium -- plutonium was never mentioned in that
connection (although "spent plutonium" was where the thread started...)

BTW, as there are not enough scraped F-16's lying around from which to salvage
the control surface counterweights, I've found a source for tungsten grain
which I'll mix into a sludge with epoxy for my future weighting needs.

Randy
--
gord...@ix.netcom.com ,----.___________ _______________ __________________
Randy Gordon-Gilmore // = = === == || == == == = || == == == = == =|
Benicia, CA, USA /-O==O------------o==o-------------o==o------------o==o-'
-=CB&Q 9900 "Pioneer Zephyr"=-


Wayne Cook

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Jan 9, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/9/97
to

On 8 Jan 1997 21:13:49 GMT, dar...@bnr.ca (darylb) wrote:

>Very interesting we are getting different answers:
>
>- Machinery's Handbook #24 Lead weighs .397 pounds per cubic inch
>- Drummond McCall catalog 0.41015 lbs per cubic inch (couple of other
>posts at .41)
>-Marks Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers the density of lead is
>710 lbs / cu ft (.4108 lb/cu in).
>- a post stating CAST: 708 lbs/cu ft (.4097lbs/cu in), ROLLED: 711
>lbs/cu ft (.4114lbs/cu in)
>- a post at 0.4096 lbs. per cubic inch,or 707.7 lbs per cubic foot
>
>Must be the different processing methods. This leads me to wonder how do
>they get the chemical "weight" (density) of a metal if there are slight
>differences in these processes and thier end density.
>

I think it probably has a lot to do with what alloy you're talking
about. Quite a bit of the lead available is alloyed with one or more
metals. This changes the specific gravity quite a bit. I'm not sure if
all the above are for pure lead. My 1960-61 edition of Handbook of
Chemistry and Physics list the specific gravity of lead as 11.3437.
However I'm kind of confused by there listing on the same line Ra Pb
11.288 and U Pb 11.2960. My best guess here is that these are for lead
that is derived from Radium and Uranium when decayed. Though thats
just a guess.
Wayne Cook
Shamrock, Tx

Quality is like buying oats,
if you want nice, clean, fresh oats
you must pay a fair price.
However if you can be satisfied with
oats that have already been through the
horse...
That comes a little cheaper...

Colin Harman

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Jan 9, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/9/97
to

Chris wrote:
>
> Can anyone attach a weight to any quantity of lead for me?
> I need to find the weight per cubic inch or whatever.
>
> ChrisLead has a density at 20 degrees C of 11.34 grams/cubic centimeter

Hope that helps

Col

Don Wilkins

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Jan 9, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/9/97
to

On 8 Jan 1997 21:13:49 GMT, dar...@bnr.ca (darylb) wrote:

>Very interesting we are getting different answers:
>
>- Machinery's Handbook #24 Lead weighs .397 pounds per cubic inch
>- Drummond McCall catalog 0.41015 lbs per cubic inch (couple of other
>posts at .41)
>-Marks Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers the density of lead is
>710 lbs / cu ft (.4108 lb/cu in).
>- a post stating CAST: 708 lbs/cu ft (.4097lbs/cu in), ROLLED: 711
>lbs/cu ft (.4114lbs/cu in)
>- a post at 0.4096 lbs. per cubic inch,or 707.7 lbs per cubic foot
>
>Must be the different processing methods. This leads me to wonder how do
>they get the chemical "weight" (density) of a metal if there are slight
>differences in these processes and thier end density.
>

No it is more likely the round off errors in converting from metric to
those other obscure units whatever they are.

The correct value is 11.347 gm per cc (20 degrees C) BUT that number
is at a specified temperature. Obviously the value will be different
at different temperatures due to expansion and contraction.

When you look at the conversion of cc. to cubic inches you may find a
number with only two significant figures. Then you find the conversion
for grams to pounds and you find another "round off".

The post at .4096 is the closest of the above.

The determination is done by obtaining high purity (natural occurring)
lead and using high purity liquid of accurately known specific gravity
under carefully controlled temperature conditions. The weight in air
and the weight in the liquid are what you need for the calculation.
(Well you need the buoyancy of air and a few other pieces of trivia
to stop the nitpickers from pointing out any omissions.)

That is probably already more than you wanted to know but the
measurements are tedious and it is damn easy to make errors.

There also could be some variation in the various isotopes in the lead
samples. This would all be specified if you looked at the original
determination probably at the National Bureau of Standards.

Fitch R. Williams

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Jan 9, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/9/97
to

bbe...@aol.com wrote:

>The specific gravity of lead is: 11.34 (i.e., denser than water). The
>weight of
>a cubic foot of water is 62.4 pounds. So a cubic foot of lead weighs 707
>pounds, or .41 pounds per cubic inch.
> Other common heavy metals:
> Gold: 1200
> Platinum: 1334
> tungsten: 1175
> Uranium: 1167
> Plutonium: 1238
>

Knowing that gold is really heavy from my gold dredging
(hobby only) days, I watch with amusement the movies where
the "bad guys" take off down the street with a truck load of
gold. 2,000 lbs of gold is a cube ~14.2" on a side.

Fitch

darylb

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Jan 9, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/9/97
to

In article <32d456a5...@news.alt.net>, way...@pan-tex.net (Wayne
Cook) wrote:

> On 8 Jan 1997 21:13:49 GMT, dar...@bnr.ca (darylb) wrote:

> I think it probably has a lot to do with what alloy you're talking
> about. Quite a bit of the lead available is alloyed with one or more
> metals. This changes the specific gravity quite a bit. I'm not sure if
> all the above are for pure lead. My 1960-61 edition of Handbook of
> Chemistry and Physics list the specific gravity of lead as 11.3437.
> However I'm kind of confused by there listing on the same line Ra Pb
> 11.288 and U Pb 11.2960. My best guess here is that these are for lead
> that is derived from Radium and Uranium when decayed. Though thats
> just a guess.
> Wayne Cook
> Shamrock, Tx

No I wasn't refering to alloys as lead is elemental however you have now
introduced isotopes (I think). I was refering to the fact that cast lead
and rolled lead had different desities. Assuming the cast lead is lighter
because of porosity would elemental lead have the same density as rolled
lead or something else? How is elemental density determined?

Daryl

--
- Clouds are high flying fogs.

- ³...ethidium bromide is a potent mutagen and carcinogen, and

darylb

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Jan 10, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/10/97
to

In article <33152a19...@news.means.net>, dwil...@means.net (Don

Wilkins) wrote:
> The determination is done by obtaining high purity (natural occurring)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That was a bit fast. This is the part is was refering to. Not the density
measurment process per say. How is the ULTRA high purity obtained and with
assurance that there is no trapped air, inclusions etc

--
- Clouds are high flying fogs.

- ł...ethidium bromide is a potent mutagen and carcinogen, and

DoN. Nichols

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Jan 12, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/12/97
to

In article <darylb-1001...@bcrkmc8.ott.bnr.ca>,

darylb <dar...@bnr.ca> wrote:
>In article <33152a19...@news.means.net>, dwil...@means.net (Don
>Wilkins) wrote:
>> The determination is done by obtaining high purity (natural occurring)
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>That was a bit fast. This is the part is was refering to. Not the density
>measurment process per say. How is the ULTRA high purity obtained and with
>assurance that there is no trapped air, inclusions etc

Well ... the purity could probably be increased by something like
"zone refining", (which is used on silicon for semiconductors, or at least
was once so used. I don't know whether any technique has since replaced it.)

It involves having a long boule of the metal, in a "boat", which is
of a material which will not dissolve in the substance under processing, and
probably will be fairly hard to "wet" by that substance as well. It starts
out solid. An induction heating coil is brought *very* slowly from one end
to the other, causing a zone of melted substance to slowly traverse the
material. (I'm not sure how well this would work with lead, espeically the
induction heater, usually it is used with a semiconductor.)

Now, the lead crystalizes as it hardens. The impurities don't fit
well in the crystal lattice (usually), so it tends to stay in the molten
zone.

This process is repeated quite a few times, resulting in a long bar
of high-purity material, and an end zone rather full of contaminiants. The
end is cut off and discarded.

Now, given lead's behavior at high temperatures, you would want to
do all this in an inert atmosphere, so it wouldn't oxydize.

To get out the dissolved gasses, what I would do as a final pass is
to pump out the inert gas, leaving behind a vacuum. This should cause the
gasses to boil out, and leave quite respectable purity behind.

I'm sure that someone else on the NG will tell me just how far off
base I am. :-)

--
Email: <dnic...@d-and-d.com> | Donald Nichols (DoN.)
Voice Days: (703) 704-2280 | Eves: (703) 938-4564
My Concertina web page: | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

darylb

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Jan 13, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/13/97
to

In article <5b9s0i$i...@windigo.d-and-d.com>, dnic...@d-and-d.com wrote:

....snip great answer...

> Email: <dnic...@d-and-d.com> | Donald Nichols (DoN.)
> Voice Days: (703) 704-2280 | Eves: (703) 938-4564
> My Concertina web page: | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
> --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

Thanks, ..... and cool sig 8^)

Daryl

Eric Wilner

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Jan 13, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/13/97
to

frwi...@ptw.com (Fitch R. Williams) writes:
: Knowing that gold is really heavy from my gold dredging

: (hobby only) days, I watch with amusement the movies where
: the "bad guys" take off down the street with a truck load of
: gold. 2,000 lbs of gold is a cube ~14.2" on a side.

Yup. Worse yet, I recall seeing a production of _Das Rheingold_
in which the Nibelungs were _carrying_ gold nuggets nearly their
own size.

Why are Dwarves so short? They get squashed carrying all that gold
around!

+------------------------------- Be seeing you -------------------------------+
| Eric J. Wilner (Silicon Gulch Gumby) er...@iptcorp.com |
| Avian upper stage: Aratinga S. ("Tinga") Bird |
| work: 415-494-7500 home: 408-744-1845 flames: 900-767-1111 |
+------------ DISCLAIMER -------------+------------- PROVERB -----------------+
|Batteries not included. Some |rw-rw-rw-: the file protection of the |
|assembly required. Do not mix with |Beast. |
|bleach or other chemicals. ORM-D. | |
+------ The author is insane. Any opinions are those of Great Cthulhu. ------+

Peter Brooks

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Jan 14, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/14/97
to

darylb (dar...@bnr.ca) wrote:
: > The determination is done by obtaining high purity (natural occurring)
: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
: That was a bit fast. This is the part is was refering to. Not the density
: measurment process per say. How is the ULTRA high purity obtained and with

Well, I don't know much about high purity lead, but I won't let that stop
me. :-) Chemically refining something seems to be a bit of a black art,
but here's an example of something I know a little bit about:

For lead, I'd start with 'clean' lead or a lead compound, and set up a
reaction that would catch most of the lead in some separable amount. (They
did a lot of this in Hanford Washington for the Manhattan project. The yield
of plutonium in U238 was pretty low, but they developed some chemical
processes that treated the Pu differently from the U. These weren't
perfect at separating them, but if you ran the process a bunch of times, you'd
end up with a fair amount of very pure Plutonium. Should be able to do
the same for lead--AFAIK, there aren't too many impurities that behave
chemically like lead.

(BTW, for the Hanford process, they used some acid to dissolve the U and
Pu slugs, then precipated out one or the other with another chemical. My
CRC is at home, so I can't make a good guess as to the acids for U and Pu,
though for Pb, you should be able to do some things with sulfuric.)

Once you get a powder of pure metal (it might be an oxide--safer. Even
lead is pryrophoric, though the particles have to be really small), you
can turn it into a slug of solid in a vacuum melt furnace. You might
want a certain amount of gas bled in to get rid of the oxide. Kind of like
O2 is used in steelmaking to burn off the excess carbon.

Actually, for a lot of elemental density figures, I've heard they went to
the crystalography route and figured the actual density. I kind of remember
there being some controversy about which was the dense-ist element (osmium
was in the running, if memory serves), and they came up with the most
accepted answer with a bunch of X-ray crystal figures and an overworked
calculator.

Well, that's my $0.02.

Pete Brooks

Charles Gallo

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Jan 14, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/14/97
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Eric Wilner wrote:
>frwi...@ptw.com (Fitch R. Williams) writes:
>: Knowing that gold is really heavy from my gold dredging
>: (hobby only) days, I watch with amusement the movies where
>: the "bad guys" take off down the street with a truck load of
>: gold. 2,000 lbs of gold is a cube ~14.2" on a side.
>
>Yup. Worse yet, I recall seeing a production of _Das Rheingold_
>in which the Nibelungs were _carrying_ gold nuggets nearly their
>own size.
>
>Why are Dwarves so short? They get squashed carrying all that gold
>around!

What's fun is to go down to the Wall Street area of Manhattan and
watch them handle the gold. Many of the international banks down
there hand Bullion for their countries (BTW The largest collection of
gold bars in the country is at the Federal Reserve Bank on Maden
Lane, NOT for Knox, but they have a loading dock so you can't see).
The gold is usually delivered in a regular Semi-Truck that has a fork
lift in the back. Some of the banks use Semi-truck Armored cars.
Some of the banks have one or two guards to guard you from stealing
the truck, some of them have UZI and M-16 toating guards. They are
affraid that if they get hit, they are going to get HIT.

Charlie

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