Reliable source for converting object cubic mm into grams of 14k gold?

Hi all,
I used an excel file found online, but I’m having some doubts about the results.
Is there anywhere I can find out how many grams the 310.831 mm3 of my object would weigh in 14k gold?
Thanks

Hi @rhino22

You can do it manually by multiplying volume x density, density of gold is 19.32 cmsq
You can get your volume in Rhino then multiply that by 19.32
or you can use one of the many gold calculators online

Here is one…
Gold Weight Calculator (calctool.org)

Or download peters tools from the package manager he has a weight tool I think you only need to add the density value but he may have gold already listed

Golds’ weight value might seem shocking I remember I had to double check on gold too since it weighs so much.
RM

Here is a Python script you can use.

test_solid_weight.py (1.5 KB)

– Dale

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Hi Dale,
That’s a nice script, it would be more valuable if it would work with all or almost all unit systems.
I crafted this weight calculator many years ago from your examples. It works with most Rhino unit systems.

It would be nice if you have time to craft a material weights script like this where it reads the densities from a user stored file and works with all unit systems or the most pertinent ones. Mine as you see has these types that I use most and works with all unit systems. But yours could and should be a standard thing in Rhino. I think it would be nice and helpful for many Rhino users and allow for multiple objects. Also it could be backwards compatible and could be published on the package manager.

Thanks for posting always learn new things from looking at your work.
RM

2 Likes

+1

Yes!

Agree 100%!

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I use a script named “Solid weight” (works only on single objects), as well as Peter’s tools one which remembers the applied material per object and could calculate everything at once.

It’s strange that Rhino does not have a native mass calculation tool after so many years, considering its importance for the design process for manufacturing. It only has volume calculation tool.
However, even the most widely used unit for the volume of liquids, the Liter, is not included in the list of volume calculations of Rhino.

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Yes, it really is…

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Hi Bobi -

We’ve been over this, and the answer is unlikely to change:

As for…

Rhino 8:

Command: Volume
Select solids or solid meshes for volume calculation ( Units=ModelUnits ): u
Units ( ModelUnits Micron Millimeter Centimeter Liter Decimeter Meter Kilometer Microinch Mil Inch Foot Yard Mile ): Liter
Select solids or solid meshes for volume calculation ( Units=Liter )
Select solids or solid meshes for volume calculation. Press Enter when done ( Units=Liter )
Calculating volume… Press Esc to cancel
Volume = 0.001384 (+/- 1e-12) liters

-wim

Good to know that Rhino 8 finally has Liter as a unit for volume. However, after two decades of development Rhino still lacks mass calculation, as pointed out by multiple people in this topic and several other topics during the years. I can’t think of any other popular CAD program that does not have such tool natively. Perhaps Rhino is the only exception among all.

As for the questions whether the water will be hot, cold, etc, there is a simple rule for volume and mass of water: 1 liter of water weights 1 kilogram at 4 degrees Celsium and has a size of a box at 10x10x10 centimeters. 1000 liters of water are equal to 1000 kg, or 1 tonne. The Rhino developers could use that simple rule to program a proper mass calculation tool.

The same goes for stainless steel, mild steel, Tungsten steel, aluminum (you can include several sub-categories as command line options to change the most common types, such like: 2011, 2024, 3003, 5083, 6061-T6, 6082, 6262, 7075), gold (different grades, too), copper, zinc, brass, silicon, concrete, sand, salt, sugar, glass, rubber, several plastics, MDF, clay, carbon-fibre, etc.

If I was a Rhino developer, I would spend a week or so to gather information for the most common materials used in the consumer goods and architecture, then use their official mass formulas to implement them into a native Rhino mass calculation tool, along with a brief description for each material properties and its typical use in certain fields (accessible via a clickable “Help” option in the Command line).

2 Likes

You’re not addressing the argument at all, and proving the point with your mistaken claim that all water–let alone plastics, MDF, carbon fiber…are you kidding?–has the same specific gravity.

They do not want to be responsible for any consequences of the specific gravity ESTIMATES being off.

Anyone who really needs this feature can make it up themselves super-easy. Other CAD don’t make that so easy, so they have to build it in if people want it also it’s a simple gimmick for the sales pitch to impress noobs that they have a form that multiplies the volume by a number they got from who-knows-where to give you “sciencey properties.”

This is a cheap excuse. Of course that every varialble such like temperature, humidity, height relative to the sea level etc could lead to a small deviation of the mass estimate. But notice the word “estimate”. It’s exactly this, an estimate. I don’t believe that the Rhino developers are scared that their mass calculation tool will lead to fallen bridges or sinking boats due to 1-2% deviation from the official formulas set in perfect conditions.

In top of that, a simple disclaimer that they do not take any responsibility for deviations just takes several seconds to be written and included as a warrning in the help topics.

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Of course that’s just your opinion. My equally worthwhile opinion is that if you need so much handholding about a bit of multiplication you shouldn’t be working on anything where it matters. You can start to make your own mass tool with your own specific gravity values in about 10 minutes of Python.

Me doing a script in 10 minutes is like you designing a supercar suspension. Not a valid argument.

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Hi Jim,

You’re not thoroughly reading my post nor are the developers from McNeel. Both you and Wim are jumping to conclusions before careful reading.

Notice I explicitly stated that the densities would be read from a “user supplied file” thus obviating the need for any legal hassles.

The hard part are of all of this are the unit conversions which if Mcneel coded would make it easier on us users and would let us users supply a density ini file.

Also Rhino already comes with a disclaimer of any responsibility for any usage of it’s program so even if McNeel supplied density values they still wouldn’t be legally responsible and to get around that I said “User Supplied file”. It is a very lame excuse for you and McNeel to use, moreover Dale is already guilty of supplying the above macro since it already includes a density value for gold. My precious, McNeel ruined my precious, the gold was insufficient due to an incorrect density value.
RM

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