Numbers matter

I frequently run into situations in online fiction (and even printed books) where the author has neglected to do some simple math, and has thus set up a situation that is embarrassingly stupid for anyone who has a feel for the numbers involved.

What got me think on this most recently was a story where someone had managed to get the better of some Russian Mafia bosses, and got their stashes of gold.

Ok, he got things right in moving the stashes from the chests they were in to a number of suitcasres, at about 40 pounds per suitcase.

What he got wrong was having the chests be "full" of gold bars and krugerrands. and yout only amount around 300lbs.

Gold has a density of 19.3. That means that a given volume of gold weighs 19.3 times what the same volume of water would weigh. So, that means 1 liter of gold weighs 19.3 kilograms. That's 42.55 pounds.

So this huge stash of gold only occupied about 7 liters. Even allowing for empty space between the coins and the gold bars, that's *still* a might small box, not several large chests.

Also, going with the value of gold, a couple years back (first per pound price I found with google). Gold was worth over $16,000 per pound. Using the exact figure from the quote, I about 61 and a third pounds of gold to make a million dollars.

I'll spare you the math, but that works out to less than 1.5 liters of gold.

From the info above, you can also get the idea that the proverbial "gold brick" (which in tales of greenhorns was usually an actual building brick painted gold) is going to weigh 40 or more pounds. If the guy trying to sell it to you is holding it in one hand and doesn't look like Arnold Scharzennegger, it's a fake. :-)

So, for writers, numbers matter. That huge fortune in gold (at least at current prices) is still going to weigh a lot, but isn't going to take up *nearly* the room you think it will. A footlocker full of gold is going to need heavy equipment to move.

Why? Because with really rough figures for the size, I get around 89 liters of volume. Which is around 1 and 3/4 metric tons.

I'll leave calculating the value as an exercise for the reader. :-)

Cheap ass manufacturers

I blew the power supply on my main system the other day. Fortunately, I have a near identical box I don't use much that I could swipe the power supply from.

I contacted a friend in the biz about getting a replacement supply. He doesn't build systems muchj anymore, but he offered me a deal on a used supply he had on hand. This is especially good since he let's me pay as I can.

I finally was feeling up to installing it today.

I discovered that the supply had apparently been from a min or mid tower built by own of the companies that tries to cut costs to the bone.

How could I tell? The spacing of the power connectors for the drives was such that I had to move the HD to a different bay so it'd reach. And even worse, the "secondary" power connector for the motherboard (a 4 pin connector on the far side of the CPU from the PS wouldn't reach.

I had to carefully unweave the wires from the ways they tangled around each other as they exited the power supply, then stretch the cable tightly across the CPU and fan and then it *just* plugged in.

Obvious the cables were sized for a case where the PS was right at the edge of the MB (a mid or mini-tower) rather than a full sized case were the wer a couple of inches between the PS and the MB. And where the lower drive bays were farther away.

I'm sure they most save a few dollars per thousand computers they build by using those shorter wires. But god help anybody who grabs the supply from a dead machine to use elsewhere.