this post was submitted on 14 May 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

My very rough calculations using 85kg as an average adult weight, results in 153gr of iron

My problem is, that i dont have any expectations as to how heavy a longsword is but i'd assume it to be a lot heavier!

After further research it looks like the more appropriate number of humans needed to make an average longsword would be closer to 25.000

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Males of average height have about 4 grams of iron in their body, females about 3.5 grams; children will usually have 3 grams or less

300 * 3g = 900g.

300 * 4,5g = 1350g

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longsword

and weighing approximately 1 to 1.5 kg

It's close enough, I'd say. OP's maths that is.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 8 months ago (2 children)

ok, but humans also regenerate blood, very slowly but it does happen. So theoretically, you could contract your family members to draw blood to be used to make a longsword out of your family's bloodline. And have it become an heirloom.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

imagine, over the centuries of blood donation, the sword slowly grows from a knife, into an absolutely huge dragonslayer behemoth

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

the living sword

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago
[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Listen there's definitely enough carbon in the body to boost that into a steel sword.

If we can make diamonds out of corpses, we can make steel.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Hold up... Wouldn't a diamond sword be better than a steel one?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

In Minecraft, sure.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Too brittle, I think.

For ceremony, though, perfect!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Way too brittle if it was the weight of a typical sword, and way too heavy otherwise.

On the other hand, the cutting edge of that sword would be pretty amazing while it lasted.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

well what about just having the blade being diamond, like those diamond saws used for cutting rock.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Do you mean just the edge? Because with a sword basically the whole thing other than the handle is the blade.

But yeah, with a tiny diamond edge you'd probably have the best of both worlds, a light, flexible sword with an ultra-sharp cutting edge.

Still, the edge probably wouldn't last for long. If the diamond was attached to a steel blade and the blade flexed, the diamond couldn't flex and would probably snap.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I was curious how long it would take to make a sword out of your own blood. If my math was correct(it probably isn't lol) the human body contains around 4.7 to 5.5 liters. And then you can apparently donate like 470 millileters every 8 weeks.

So take 4.7(assuming the smallest people) X 300 = 1410 L total blood

1410(total needed) / 0.47(donation amount) = 3000 donations X 8 weeks = 24,000 / 52 = 461.54 years

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

And then you can apparently donate like 470 millileters every 8 weeks.

Safely. You could probably speed it up a bit if you have a higher risk tolerance.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

True! I would assume a larger person would be able to give up more at once, too.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

A larger person might want a larger sword, though!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

That's a good point. You couldn't have someone like Shaq with a 3 foot sword. It would look too tiny! Gotta size it proportionally.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Or if your enemy has been thoroughly dispatched

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

This estimate was for your own blood, not your enemy's, so probably best not to thoroughly dispatch yourself.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

New mythology curse just dropped.

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