Wanna stump your friends? at DVinfo.net

Robert Lane · April 17th, 2006, 04:15 PM

A sure-fire way to quiet the know-it-all at any party, ask the question: "How much does electricity weigh?"

The answer may surprise you - and I'm not telling!

Peter Costello · April 17th, 2006, 04:20 PM

Electricity's pretty light

Giroud Francois · April 17th, 2006, 04:37 PM

as almost every part of matter has a weight, you can say that an electron has some weigth too. Unfortunately, electron are not electricity.
electricity is a vector (a force) and is not submitted to gravity (unless you live near a black hole), so there is probably no way to measure this.

K. Forman · April 17th, 2006, 05:05 PM

The weight depends on what size battery you need ;)

Brian Farris · April 17th, 2006, 05:06 PM

The transmission lines in Ohio are sagging from the heavy load.

J. Stephen McDonald · April 17th, 2006, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith Forman

The weight depends on what size battery you need ;)

How many readers of this will be weighing their batteries before and after charging? The results of this would be surprising to many people.

K. Forman · April 17th, 2006, 07:14 PM

Yeah... my wife is one of those types, she'll believe anything I tell her, except the truth. For the first two years we were together, she thought my middle initial C stood for Claudufius. When she laughed at that, I told her it was my Grandfather's name. She stopped laughing and apollogised for it :)

Frank Granovski · April 18th, 2006, 02:43 AM

My Electro weights just under 2 pounds, but I should double check that in the manual.

Dionyssios Chalkias · April 18th, 2006, 04:07 AM

Reminds me of the smoke weighing scene in the film 'Smoke' or was it 'Blue in the face'...?

Nick Hiltgen · April 30th, 2006, 02:46 AM

Damn you guys...

Well let's see the weight of a battery shouldn't be an indication of the weight of electricity, because batteries conduct electricity or store (to be more accurate) through a chemical process.

I think it comes down to what is electricity? Is it electrons?

this is going to keep me up for another 15 minutes at least.

J. Stephen McDonald · April 30th, 2006, 03:05 AM

Does the expression mass equals energy equals mass, mean anything in this situation? Does a fully-charged battery weigh more? Has anyone else checked this?

Nick Hiltgen · April 30th, 2006, 03:08 AM

leave it to me to stumble on this two weeks later.

ok I'm going with electricity has no weight. I.E. does cable weight more when there is current going through it? I don't think so.

I believe that any weight transfered out of a battery is probably just some chemical reaction that is turning those chemicals into energy, and since energy doesn't have mass (right?) then I'm saying that electricity (as energy) has no weight.

Now the real question is " why is there air?"

K. Forman · April 30th, 2006, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Hiltgen

Now the real question is " why is there air?"

It keeps a Blonde's head from going flat?

Matthew Nayman · April 30th, 2006, 09:53 AM

...Touche...

Marvin Emms · April 30th, 2006, 03:37 PM

I like Peter's answer. Very cunning.

The question is dimensionally incorrect as far as I can see. Bit like asking how fast a drivers licence is or how how bright is the colour yellow.

If the question can be interpreted as, 'How much does electrical energy weigh'?

Then the answer is the same as for any other energy. Get the Mass from E=MC^2, which will be next to undetectable in any ordinary application and then calculate what it weighs by using the local value of gravity.

Simplest smart alec answer might be 'mass times acceleration, same as everything else' or 'about six times on earth what it would be on the moon'.

April 17th, 2006, 04:15 PM	#1
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,788 Images: 15	Wanna stump your friends? A sure-fire way to quiet the know-it-all at any party, ask the question: "How much does electricity weigh?" The answer may surprise you - and I'm not telling! __________________ Robert Lane Producer/Creator - Bike Pilots TV

April 17th, 2006, 04:20 PM	#2
Peter Costello Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 29	answer Electricity's pretty light

April 17th, 2006, 05:05 PM	#4
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	The weight depends on what size battery you need ;) __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

April 17th, 2006, 07:14 PM	#7
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	Yeah... my wife is one of those types, she'll believe anything I tell her, except the truth. For the first two years we were together, she thought my middle initial C stood for Claudufius. When she laughed at that, I told her it was my Grandfather's name. She stopped laughing and apollogised for it :) __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

April 30th, 2006, 02:46 AM	#10
Nick Hiltgen Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Atlanta GA Posts: 1,427	Damn you guys... Well let's see the weight of a battery shouldn't be an indication of the weight of electricity, because batteries conduct electricity or store (to be more accurate) through a chemical process. I think it comes down to what is electricity? Is it electrons? this is going to keep me up for another 15 minutes at least. __________________ I have a dream that one day canon will release a 35mm ef to xl adapter and I'll have iris control and a 35mm dof of all my ef lenses, and it will be awesome...

April 17th, 2006, 04:37 PM	#3
Giroud Francois Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: switzerland Posts: 2,133	as almost every part of matter has a weight, you can say that an electron has some weigth too. Unfortunately, electron are not electricity. electricity is a vector (a force) and is not submitted to gravity (unless you live near a black hole), so there is probably no way to measure this.

April 17th, 2006, 05:06 PM	#5
Brian Farris Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hattiesburg, MS Posts: 99	The transmission lines in Ohio are sagging from the heavy load.

April 18th, 2006, 02:43 AM	#8
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	My Electro weights just under 2 pounds, but I should double check that in the manual.

April 18th, 2006, 04:07 AM	#9
Dionyssios Chalkias Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 64	Reminds me of the smoke weighing scene in the film 'Smoke' or was it 'Blue in the face'...?

April 30th, 2006, 03:05 AM	#11
J. Stephen McDonald Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Eugene, Oregon Posts: 909	Does the expression mass equals energy equals mass, mean anything in this situation? Does a fully-charged battery weigh more? Has anyone else checked this? __________________ Steve McDonald https://onedrive.com/?cid=229807ce52dd4fe0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/22121562@N00/ http://www.vimeo.com/user458315/videos

April 30th, 2006, 03:08 AM	#12
Nick Hiltgen Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Atlanta GA Posts: 1,427	leave it to me to stumble on this two weeks later. ok I'm going with electricity has no weight. I.E. does cable weight more when there is current going through it? I don't think so. I believe that any weight transfered out of a battery is probably just some chemical reaction that is turning those chemicals into energy, and since energy doesn't have mass (right?) then I'm saying that electricity (as energy) has no weight. Now the real question is " why is there air?" __________________ I have a dream that one day canon will release a 35mm ef to xl adapter and I'll have iris control and a 35mm dof of all my ef lenses, and it will be awesome...

April 30th, 2006, 09:53 AM	#14
Matthew Nayman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Toronto Posts: 917	...Touche...

April 30th, 2006, 03:37 PM	#15
Marvin Emms Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: UK Posts: 204	I like Peter's answer. Very cunning. The question is dimensionally incorrect as far as I can see. Bit like asking how fast a drivers licence is or how how bright is the colour yellow. If the question can be interpreted as, 'How much does electrical energy weigh'? Then the answer is the same as for any other energy. Get the Mass from E=MC^2, which will be next to undetectable in any ordinary application and then calculate what it weighs by using the local value of gravity. Simplest smart alec answer might be 'mass times acceleration, same as everything else' or 'about six times on earth what it would be on the moon'.