Oils weight before & after

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ewenique

ewenique

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Here's a question for chemistry geeks: Does whipping air into hardened oils cause a decrease in weight?

Here's what happened. I attempted a whipped soap using 16 oz of oils- 63% hard oils, 37% soft. The oils were put in the fridge to harden up before whipping. After whipping, the oils only weighed 13 oz. I'm certain that I weighed my oils correctly, but what happened to 3 oz? I'm baffled!
 
did it possibly stay on whatever you were whipping with? or did you tap the excess that clings to the mixer into the batter?

If not.... thats the 3oz your missing...
 
ewenique said:
I went ahead and made the batch, and it seems to be fine - no zap. Still don't know what happened to those 3 oz.
Click to expand...

lol... like I said, might have been left in the bowl or on the utensils you used :)
 
well in theory it could weigh MORE - I mean air DOES have weight.

But I'm betting on stuff left behind on the beaters too, and the bowl, and your spatula, and whatever you measured in maybe...

Or error with your scale maybe.
 
I have never actually weighed my whipped oils, but mass cannot simply vanish ( I keep trying to lose weight, but it always finds me again ;) ) so I agree with the remnants left on the beaters etc. being the explanation for the reduced mass.

The volume on the other hand increases as a result of the tiny air bubbles which are incorporated during the beating.

It all comes out good in the end though.
 
Well, I can't imagine that 3 oz was lost in the bowl and on the beaters. I love to use my spatula! So I wonder if the scale was/is off. But the soap seems to be fine anyway. I'll measure twice next time around just to be safe.
 
ewenique said:
Well, I can't imagine that 3 oz was lost in the bowl and on the beaters. I love to use my spatula! So I wonder if the scale was/is off. But the soap seems to be fine anyway. I'll measure twice next time around just to be safe.
Click to expand...

do you have any 100gram weights that are used to caliberate the scale? or anything of a known weight you could put on it to check if it is caliberated correctly?...

Also... make sure fans, subwoofers/stereos and cellphones as well as any other transmitting devices are turned off and stowed well away from your scale... also make sure its level too.. all of those things will throw the reading off...

It pretty crazy to see how nuts your scale will go when you put a cellphone near it...try it sometime... its pretty nuts (just dont do it too long or itll mess your scale up..)
 
IanT said:
Also... make sure fans, subwoofers/stereos and cellphones as well as any other transmitting devices are turned off and stowed well away from your scale... also make sure its level too.. all of those things will throw the reading off...
Click to expand...
and the microwave and ceiling fan.
 

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