4 ms·

Little known fact: it's only due to DF that you can find the solid density for Saguaro wood online. It's ~430 kg/m^3 dry and this was determined empirically b

by Natsu 12y ago

Little known fact: it's only due to DF that you can find the solid density for Saguaro wood online. It's ~430 kg/m^3 dry and this was determined empirically by players. EDIT: Fixed units.

mkl 12y ago
kg/m^3, actually. Even gold is only 19.3 g/cm^3 :-D
- patmcguire 12y ago
  Ah, yeah. Saguaro wood probably floats, and the cutoff for that is below 1 g/cm
  - Natsu 12y ago
    There is at least one wood that does not float: ironwood. It's only thanks to DF that I know things like this.
    - jacobolus 12y ago
      “Ironwood” is a name used for a whole bunch of different unrelated tree species. I believe lignum vitae is just about the densest commercially available wood. Definitely sinks.
      - Natsu 12y ago
        The nice thing about the DF raws is that they now list the actual species used as a basis. A lot of research went on some time ago to add correct, sourced information to the raws. There are probably still a few wonky things, as some of the properties in there make more sense for metals than things like wood, but the players care about even strange details like that.
- Natsu 12y ago
  Oops, you're right. Most sources list g/cm^3, but you're correct that the raws use kg/m^3 (and 430 kg/m^3 is the proper figure).
shubhamjain 12y ago
Can you elaborate? I didn't get what are you pointing at.
- bandwevil 12y ago
  Some fans decided to try and get accurate densities for as many materials as possible so that their in-game simulations reflect their actual properties. http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=80022.0 http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=80022.0
- Natsu 12y ago
  The other reply linked to the forum thread, but just to elaborate, fans of the game obtained a box of Saguaro wood, then proceeded to measure the solid density and reported their findings. That said, what actually prompted the raws to get updated was this: http://imgur.com/EPtgt http://imgur.com/EPtgt And the jokes on that page will only make sense if you play DF.
  - Natsu 12y ago
    One more bit of background that may help you make sense of this. In DF, material properties, among other things, are defined in the "raws" (text files that contain assorted figures, like solid density). You can see an example of what they look like here, on the DF wiki - http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/v0.34:Saguaro/raw http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/v0.34:Saguaro/raw --- Density was determined experimentally. Contact Uristocrat for a sample if you want to verify this yourself. A 6g (+/- 0.1g) piece of dry Saguaro wood had a volume of approximately 14 cm^3 (+/- 1 cm^3) [SOLID_DENSITY:430]

by Natsu 12y ago

Little known fact: it's only due to DF that you can find the solid density for Saguaro wood online. It's ~430 kg/m^3 dry and this was determined empirically by players. EDIT: Fixed units.

mkl 12y ago

kg/m^3, actually. Even gold is only 19.3 g/cm^3 :-D

patmcguire 12y ago
Ah, yeah. Saguaro wood probably floats, and the cutoff for that is below 1 g/cm
- Natsu 12y ago
  There is at least one wood that does not float: ironwood. It's only thanks to DF that I know things like this.
  - jacobolus 12y ago
    “Ironwood” is a name used for a whole bunch of different unrelated tree species. I believe lignum vitae is just about the densest commercially available wood. Definitely sinks.
    - Natsu 12y ago
      The nice thing about the DF raws is that they now list the actual species used as a basis. A lot of research went on some time ago to add correct, sourced information to the raws. There are probably still a few wonky things, as some of the properties in there make more sense for metals than things like wood, but the players care about even strange details like that.
Natsu 12y ago
Oops, you're right. Most sources list g/cm^3, but you're correct that the raws use kg/m^3 (and 430 kg/m^3 is the proper figure).

shubhamjain 12y ago

Can you elaborate? I didn't get what are you pointing at.

bandwevil 12y ago
Some fans decided to try and get accurate densities for as many materials as possible so that their in-game simulations reflect their actual properties. http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=80022.0 http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=80022.0
Natsu 12y ago
The other reply linked to the forum thread, but just to elaborate, fans of the game obtained a box of Saguaro wood, then proceeded to measure the solid density and reported their findings. That said, what actually prompted the raws to get updated was this: http://imgur.com/EPtgt http://imgur.com/EPtgt And the jokes on that page will only make sense if you play DF.
- Natsu 12y ago
  One more bit of background that may help you make sense of this. In DF, material properties, among other things, are defined in the "raws" (text files that contain assorted figures, like solid density). You can see an example of what they look like here, on the DF wiki - http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/v0.34:Saguaro/raw http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/v0.34:Saguaro/raw --- Density was determined experimentally. Contact Uristocrat for a sample if you want to verify this yourself. A 6g (+/- 0.1g) piece of dry Saguaro wood had a volume of approximately 14 cm^3 (+/- 1 cm^3) [SOLID_DENSITY:430]