Uranium is 70% denser than Lead.
The energy stored in the drive weights of a long case clock could therefore be substantially increased if the weights were made of depleted Uranium rather than Lead.
This could allow an eight-day clock to be reworked as a fifteen day clock, or have more elaborate chimes for the same case size and drop.-- 8th of 7, May 02 2010 Osmium http://www.webeleme...osmium/physics.htmlYou want dense? I'll give you dense. [neutrinos_shadow, May 07 2010] Osmium tetroxide http://en.wikipedia...ki/Osmium_tetroxideIntriguing [8th of 7, May 08 2010] Hardly seems worth the effort of depleting it just to gain a fraction of an AMU.-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 02 2010 No, when the weights come into close proximity, the surroundings get warmer.
SP. fixed.-- 8th of 7, May 02 2010 this is a case of technology potential versus cost effectiveness. Depleted uranium is a lot more expensive than lead. plus i dont think the army is gonna let go of any soon since they need it to throw at mountains in other countries. why not double the size of the weight instead, Much cheaper. Remember the addage K.I.S.S.-- Arcanus, May 03 2010 Hah, you think that's the best we can do ? This merely describes an energy storing sub-assembly. If you want a totally dangerous clock, then we'll start working up a specification. Some sort of Death Clock ...-- 8th of 7, May 03 2010 A cuckoo clock, where every hour the door opens and a vicious and hungry swarm of hornets comes out?-- pocmloc, May 03 2010 //when the weights come into close proximity, the surroundings get warmer// Did you have in mind Otto Frisch's "Dragon" experiment?-- mouseposture, May 03 2010 Uranium? Childs play. If you're looking for dense, get some Osmium - twice as dense as lead.-- neutrinos_shadow, May 07 2010 Could the weight be modelled to look like Sarah Palin? That would increase its density by a significant factor. Dense-baby-dense.-- xenzag, May 08 2010 // without the toxicity and obtainability //
... so why bother ?
Actually, Osmium Tetroxide has some interestingly toxic attributes ...
<link>-- 8th of 7, May 08 2010 //Osmium Tetroxide// Yes, I had the same thought: was going to say it was perfect for the Death Clock. Was then disappointed to discover that *bulk* osmium oxidises only at high temperature.
But you could still make a Death Hourglass with powdered osmium ....-- mouseposture, May 08 2010 ... with the unoccupied volume filled with a persistant nerve gas. Excellent.-- 8th of 7, May 08 2010 OK I would like a long case clock with the weights of solid gold. Thanks in advance.-- pocmloc, May 09 2010 random, halfbakery