Just a thought...

Posted by Patterson from adsl-63-198-64-194.dsl.lsan03.pacbell.net on May 11, 2000 at 14:58:11:

In Reply to: Re: Was the golden idol made of gold? posted by Fall Guy on May 11, 2000 at 14:28:17:

: : the golden idol that indy gets at the begining of raiders, is said in the film to be made of gold. If that is true, anyone could carry that idol, not even Indy!. Was that a film error or was it supposed to be of any other material.

: : --Henry

: Well, of course the prop is made from painted resin, foam, wood [I'm sure someone on this forum knows!] or similar. But yes, if someone was to carry a solid gold idol of that size, then he would have to carry quite some weight there, but it's doable. The specific gravity of gold is 19.3. That means that the idol made out of solid gold would weigh 19.3 times as much as if it was made out of water. Guessing from the size of the idol I estimate its weight [actually:mass, but that's a differrent issue] to be about 14kg [ca 31 lbs]. But there is no way that the idol was solid after all. Remember the bag that Indy uses to replace the weight on the pressure pad? That bag wasn't holding enough sand to equal the mass of a golf ball sized piece of solid gold! Fall Guy

I believe the idea was that the idol was either a gold leaf or hammered gold artifact. As gold was (is) so precious, you make it go a long way if you stay away from solid gold forms of art, right?

Cheers!

Patterson

Follow Ups:

Re: Just a thought... Fall Guy 15:11:53 5/11/2000 (6)
- Re: Just a thought... Patterson 15:16:54 5/11/2000 (5)
  - Diamonds are tricky, they get lost so easily, see ToD [nm] Fall Guy 15:22:03 5/11/2000 (4)
    - "Diamonds are forever, Mr. Bond. Mwa ha ha!" (nm) bud-arc 15:26:21 5/11/2000 (3)
      - Don't... Fall Guy 15:50:36 5/11/2000 (2)
        
        Where I come from, we're ALL fall guys! :) (nm) bud-arc 16:05:55 5/11/2000 (1)
        
        That must be a highly "interesting" place, to say the least! :) [nm] Fall guy 16:11:10 5/11/2000 (0)

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: : : the golden idol that indy gets at the begining of raiders, is said in the film to be made of gold. If that is true, anyone could carry that idol, not even Indy!. Was that a film error or was it supposed to be of any other material.

: : : --Henry

: : Well, of course the prop is made from painted resin, foam, wood [I'm sure someone on this forum knows!] or similar. But yes, if someone was to carry a solid gold idol of that size, then he would have to carry quite some weight there, but it's doable. The specific gravity of gold is 19.3. That means that the idol made out of solid gold would weigh 19.3 times as much as if it was made out of water. Guessing from the size of the idol I estimate its weight [actually:mass, but that's a differrent issue] to be about 14kg [ca 31 lbs]. But there is no way that the idol was solid after all. Remember the bag that Indy uses to replace the weight on the pressure pad? That bag wasn't holding enough sand to equal the mass of a golf ball sized piece of solid gold! Fall Guy

: I believe the idea was that the idol was either a gold leaf or hammered gold artifact.  As gold was (is) so precious, you make it go a long way if you stay away from solid gold forms of art, right?

: Cheers!

: Patterson

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