How much does a photo weigh?

RBaker

RBaker

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Robert
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I leave home with an empty 16 Gig memory card in the camera. A few hours later I reach my destination somewhere in the West Highlands of Scotland.
I decide to whip out the camera and knock off 8 Gig worth of the usual masterpieces. How much more will the memory card weigh than it did when it was just a dull, boring empty card?
Surely it can't be the same as before all that masterfulness was on it? I mean, even if it was photos of a rubbish dump, all those ones and zeros must add up to something.
I'd be grateful if any clever clogs could explain the science behind it, or even just what you think.
 
It actually weighs less, think about it, it's all 0 wen formatted and a 1 is clearly slimmer than a 0...
 
I think it depends. If a 1 is a charged capacitor and a 0 is uncharged, then yes, a full memory card will have more mass due to E=MC^2.

However, if they're just toggles, that require energy to change state, then the mass will stay the same. Which I believe is how flash memory works.
 
sirch said:
It actually weighs less, think about it, it's all 0 wen formatted and a 1 is clearly slimmer than a 0...
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Right answer, but the wrong reason.

It obviously weighs less when full because the man in the moon wants your masterpieces, so applies gravity in an attempt to lift them, just as he applies gravity to lift everything else on earth. Increase in gravity = decrease in effective weight :)
 
Ah, but If I used the Lencarta Smartflash in some, that would make them "lighter"
Think I need a wee lie down.
 
Many a true word spoken in jest, it's actually a floating gate Mosfet where the floating gate holds an electron if it's zero and and does not if its one. Google tells me an electron weighs 9.10938291 × 10^-31 kilograms so an SD card which was fully formatted with zeros looses 0.0000000000000000000000000977g per gigabyte of data.


:coat:
 
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sirch said:
Many a true word spoken in jest, it's actually a floating gate Mosfet where the floating gate holds an electron if it's zero and and does not if its one. Google tells me an electron weighs 9.10938291 × 10^-31 kilograms so an SD card which was fully formatted with zeros looses 0.0000000000000000000000000977g per gigabyte of data.


:coat:
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Yes but its taking that electron from the battery so the corresponding weight of the battery will go down to match the increase in weight in the mosfet. Ergo weigh remains the same. Possibly.

(Sorry Ive just realised he asked specifically for the memory card, not the overall weight of the camera. As you were..)
 
Weight or mass?

As for how much a photo weighs, depends on the print size, film format and how dense the dyes in the slide are...
 
Why don't you stop worrying about before and after weight of the card and book the first available appointment with your doctor to tell him you don't feel well!!
 
mass will stay the same but the weight of it will change when you go planet hopping :banana::banana::banana:


weirdest discussion on here at the moment lol
 
Full or empty, the card will weigh the same. This can easily be tested using micro scales. The question is incorrectly posed. It should refer to 'mass' rather than weight because it has electronic particles (electrons) stored on it when the data changes so does the density ( e.g 1s / 0s).

However, this begs the question of compression and temperature which is another factor. I'm not getting into a discussion about thermodynamical equilibrium as it's far to mind numbingly tedious. The important thing to remember in all this, is that it's all b****x and it won't make you a better photographer. Just enjoy your photography !
 
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does an all white photo weigh less than a all black photo ???????????????????
 
But surely the card would stay the same in weight as the IO's are literally a gate set to open or closed, there's no electron holding them open once the power is off, its just left in the last executed state? Pretty much the same as when you go to work, you open and close the gate but you then come home to find that the gate was left open by the postman!
 
sirch said:
but could it be carried by a swallow? If so African or European?
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That's a toughie. To be safe, I'd go for a crack special services team of carrier pigeons!
 
Blank_Canvas said:
Full or empty, the card will weigh the same. This can easily be tested using micro scales. The question is incorrectly posed. It should refer to 'mass' rather than weight because it has electronic particles (electrons) stored on it when the data changes so does the density ( e.g 1s / 0s).
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Nope, weight is a function of mass so if the mass changes so with the weight in proportion to the gravitational field it sits in.

Whether or not the mass changes I don't know.
 
If you ETTR, your pictures are lighter.

I've just been taking pictures in a concentration camp. Complete with gas chambers. Now those pictures are heavy.
 
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Nawty said:
Nope, weight is a function of mass so if the mass changes so with the weight in proportion to the gravitational field it sits in.

Whether or not the mass changes I don't know.
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Mass is mass and weight is a force because that is how they are defined in physics. The mass will never change but the weight will change as the strength of gravity changes. For example objects weigh less on the Moon than they do on the Earth because a of change in gravity. The mass however, will remain a constant.
 
Ian has brought up an important and relevant point. Photo graphy is drawing (or writing) with light, NOT heavy.
 
It depends whether you were taking pictures when it was dark or not. If it was dark then obviously they will be heavier than those taken when it's lighter.
 
It also depends if the ink on the cheap cards rub off on your hands when you put your tin foil hat on to take the card out the camera.
 
Blank_Canvas said:
Full or empty, the card will weigh the same. This can easily be tested using micro scales. The question is incorrectly posed. It should refer to 'mass' rather than weight because it has electronic particles (electrons) stored on it when the data changes so does the density ( e.g 1s / 0s).

However, this begs the question of compression and temperature which is another factor. I'm not getting into a discussion about thermodynamical equilibrium as it's far to mind numbingly tedious. The important thing to remember in all this, is that it's all b****x and it won't make you a better photographer. Just enjoy your photography !
Click to expand...

While I have the utmost respect for the views expressed, I must vehemently disagree with at least the first of them.
The card didn't weigh the same. It was heavier. It was carefully checked against a card of the same type, bought at the same time. They were double checked on a brand new set of scales, and if these scales are inaccurate, they're going straight back to Tesco.

I will concede that the card may have gained some weight after falling into the bag and picking up some crumbs from the crisps after the bag had burst open.
The extra weight may also be ink, after I'd drawn a smiley face on it. I prefer to draw the smiley than to write "Masterpieces" as this can often be misconstrued as boastfulness.

You are correct to state it will not make me a better photographer. What would have made van Honthorst a better painter or Mozart a better musician?
I am so glad we didn't start the thermodynamical equilibrium debate. That old chestnut eh? I've often known tiffin to go on much longer than planned when someone brings that one up.
Thank you, and everyone else, for bringing much wisdom to the debate.

I am, sir, your 'umble and obedient servant.
 
WISDOM? In TP OOF?
 
Some of it. I suppose I must have read the line about "bringing much wisdom" to have responded to it. Blame it on the Sun! (I have to be a little careful not to burn, so spend a little time indoors hiding from it, especially after an hour or 2 in Mrs Nod's convertible.
 
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