Tuesday 25 May 2010

Comparative Density Calculations of a PhD and Huw Bartlett

We were able to calculate the density, firstly of Susan Diab's PhD (in kg/m^3), next calculate Assistant Huw Bartlett's density (based on the assumption that he is composed of 5 cylinders and 1 cuboid) and then compare the two. As it turns out Huw Bartlett, by all accounts an intelligent fellow, is more dense than the PhD (twice as dense in fact).

Therefore in our view the patient is fine. Nothing to worry about here. We concur. Click on image below to enlarge:

Key Facts:
PhD Mass: 8kg
PhD Volume: 20.2litres
PhD Density: 396kg/m^3
Huw Bartlett Mass: 65kg
Huw Bartlett Volume: 84.2litres
Huw Bartlett Density: 772kg/m^3

Typically the density of the human body is about that of water (1000kg/m^3) (which explains why we sort of float). The difference here is due to the error in our assumption that Huw Bartlett can be modelled out of a cuboid and cylinders. The error can be justified by the fact that we are operating as artists not engineers. Cezanne was famous for saying that everything in nature could be represented in terms of the cylinder, the sphere and the cone stating that “one must first of all study geometric forms: the cone, the cube, the cylinder, the sphere.” Scientific or medical types might be more precise in their approaches but we're happy to defend the 772 figure above which renders Huw Bartlett extremely boyant indeed.

Perhaps in future we should use the Archimides principle to measure Huw Bartlett's volume.

3 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. You are correct: this is very reassuring.

      Delete
  2. To clarify, Huw Bartlett is a model of intelligence. Your PhD is even more intelligent than he. Conclusion: a healthy artifact.

    Dr. Gilhooly

    ReplyDelete

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