Material densities
The density of every material a mass check reads, each quoted from the page that states it.
The model
Every mass check in the catalogue rests on one relation: mass is density times volume. A cartridge's case is brass of a known density, a pistol's frame is steel or polymer, a bullet's core is lead. The registry holds each material's density with the page that states it, and the checks read it from there.
where
- the material's density, from the registry
- the volume the material fills
- the fill fraction: the share of the bounding box the material fills (a steel pistol about 13%)
A density enters the registry only with a page that states it, quoted in the page's own words, and the materials check reads every page again each run. A figure for a class of material (stainless steel) covers its grades with a range (304, 416 and 17-4 PH run from 7.7 to 8.0 g/cm³), and the checks allow for it.
Each material also carries what it is made of: its elements by mass for its typical grade, as the standard or datasheet states them, with the base metal marked balance. The materials check reads those pages again too.
Answer: 7.85 g/cm³ lies inside 7.75 to 7.9, so the source and the range agree.
The registry
| Material | Density | Composition |
|---|---|---|
11.348 |
| |
Copper | 8.935 |
|
Bronze | 8.8 |
|
Gilding metal | 8.8 |
|
Cartridge brass | 8.53 |
|
Nickel silver (German silver) | 8.5 |
|
7.9 |
| |
7.874 |
| |
Carbon and alloy steel | 7.85 |
|
Zinc alloy (Zamak) | 6.6 |
|
Titanium alloy | 4.43 |
|
Aluminium alloy | 2.75 |
|
1.85 | ||
Glass-fibre composite (fibreglass, G-10) | 1.85 | |
1.85 | ||
Magnesium alloy | 1.8 | |
Carbon fibre composite | 1.6 | |
Glass-filled nylon (polymer) | 1.36 |
|
Bakelite (phenolic) | 1.3 | |
Hard rubber (ebonite, vulcanite) | 1.15 |
|
Nylon 66 (unfilled) | 1.14 |
|
1.1 | ||
0.955 |
| |
Leather | 0.86 | |
0.855 |
| |
0.71 |
| |
0.705 |
| |
0.69 |
| |
0.61 |
|
Each material also lists the catalogue values it covers (steel, carbon_steel, chromoly_steel and the rest are carbon steel), so a record's frame material finds its density whatever it is called.
Checks that use this method
Findings this method raised
Every task the 5 checks resting on this method put on the review queue, open and closed, with where each one stands.
Reading the findings…