[Mad Vlad]

Not done well here... packed my suitcase for a business trip, but I don't have any scales and I'd quite like to check that my baggage isn't overweight before getting raped at the airport by the baggage Gestapo.

Practical suggestions with how I can check my suitcase's tonnage without any weighing devices (no, not even a Wii fit...) I won't have time in the morning to go and buy some scales.

[TheSownRose]

It's a crude measurement, but put something of a known weight in one hand and compare it to the suitcase in the other.

[theronkinator]

Fill the bath with water, submerge the case and measure the deplacement, should be able to calculate it from that.

[sil3nt_cha0s]

Go to your nearest park, find a seesaw, and work out the weight using moments about a fixed point (requires you to know your own weight or a random object's weight).

edit: you might not need to know the weight of yourself or another object. you might be able to do simultaneous equations instead.

[SnoochToTheBooch]

make some sort of seesaw, put the case one one end then pile things of known weight on the other side till it balances

[Madmachine]

(Original post by Mad Vlad)
Not done well here... packed my suitcase for a business trip, but I don't have any scales and I'd quite like to check that my baggage isn't overweight before getting raped at the airport by the baggage Gestapo.

Practical suggestions with how I can check my suitcase's tonnage without any weighing devices (no, not even a Wii fit...) I won't have time in the morning to go and buy some scales.

I got a good one. Find a bare wall and hang a tape measure from the ceiling. get an object of known weight, crouch on the ground and throw it vertically into the air with moderate force. note down the height it attains. Repeat (using the same amount of force) with your suitcase.

The mass of your suitcase will be equal to
(mass of other object x height gained by other object)/(height gained by suitcase)

physics

Spoiler:

Show

If the initial kinetic energy imparted to both objects is equal then the gravitational potential energy of both will also be equal due to conservation of energy

[elia]

(Original post by theronkinator)
Fill the bath with water, submerge the case and measure the deplacement, should be able to calculate it from that.

That would measure the volume of the case but not the mass. No?

[like a boss]

Go to your local gym to weigh it.

[Illusionary]

(Original post by elia)
That would measure the volume of the case but not the mass. No?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes'_principle

That does require that the suitcase floats, though - and if it's not completely waterproof it's not going to be a practical solution either.

[Joinedup]

(Original post by Illusionary)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes'_principle

That does require that the suitcase floats, though - and if it's not completely waterproof it's not going to be a practical solution either.

you could seal it in a black bag

[alexmagpie]

You, my friend, need a boat.

1. Get a boat

2. Put suitcase on boat

3. Note how far in the water the boat dips

4. Take out suitcase, replace with 1kg bags of flour until boat dips the same amount.

5. Count the bags of flour.