Cost per kilogram of anything.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Oh, well, give the LHC some time to find the Higgs. After all, even if it's already been observed, which I doubt, because they aren't running LHC at full throttle, realising it will take its time. In any case, how would you measure success "weight" if they don't find anything and end up redefining high energy physics? X/0?

OT: Still not convinced about dark matter. For some reasons, I still prefer General Relativity to be wrong at large scales.

Ahh yes, the Higgs boson or "God particle". I think Miguel, you just found the most expensive matter of all...if it exists. The Higgs boson is the only Standard Model particle that has not been observed and is thought to be the mediator of mass. But unlike Dark matter, which has mass, there is so little known about it that its all computer simulation and theorum.

It works with various theories, which is why so much has been spent on it.
Fascinating to know what they can do with physics if they discover a way to harness its potential.
But by far and away the single most expensive bit of matter if it exists.

[xpensive]

Come to think of it, wonder what the sheer production cost per kg of an F1 car might be these days?

Forget windtunnel time or hospitality suits, simply the additional cost for team "X" to build another
already fully developed car, could it be done for less than 500 kEUR, that would be some 800 EUR/kg?

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Consider initial costs like Engine then gearbox.
Rough estimates here....
This is around £8million per season as is the case for Force India and you have an engine and gearbox weighing in at around 100kgs.
8 engines and gearboxes @ around 1 million per unit(s) and you reach the million per figure.
This translates as about 10,000 per kg just for the engine/gearbox, as it is the most xpensive bit of the car.
Find the cost of the tyres(cant find that anywhere)
Between 2-10,000 per wheel and their weight 10-20 kgs.

Then there is the really unquantifiable stuff like who has the lightest weight chassis. As this will mean more ballast available(Ballast is cheap) but the materials used to make the car light(as well as the brains) dont come cheap.

And is the driver included in this? The formula starts to look even more complex(driver weight/salary/KPI)

[747heavy]

Citröen Survolt Electric race car

cost per unit: 1,8 million $
weight: 1150 kg

makes: ~ 1565 $/kg

it´s a bargin

[747heavy]

Saffron - the spice

Saffron prices at wholesale and retail rates range from US$500 to US$5,000 per pound (US$1,100–11,000/kg)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

I keep getting different answers on this.

But has anyone heard of AeroGel? But apparently this stuff costs $300,000,000,000(billion) per milligram

[Just_a_fan]

Nah, can't be right. Aerogel is used in building insulation these days which would make for very expensive buildings.

There may be some hyper-rare aerogel made from purest unobtanium which costs billions / ug but I'd doubt it.

[Giblet]

I work on very high end buildings and have not seen aerogel used yet. Roxul rock fiber is still the norm

[Richard]

http://www.aerogel.com/markets/building.html

http://thermablok.com/

[Giblet]

I'd love to work with that stuff. I wonder how long until / if it will start going into widespread use. Roxul is horrible to work with.

[xpensive]

I wonder if moderator-sweat is among the most xpensive substances to be found, if not up there with anti-matter though?

[timbo]

I wonder if moderator-sweat is among the most xpensive substances to be found, if not up there with anti-matter though?

Reminds me a joke about professor brains/kilo and lumberjack brains/kilo prices.

[Just_a_fan]

I work on very high end buildings and have not seen aerogel used yet. Roxul rock fiber is still the norm

I've seen it used in a small number of high insulation buildings so far. These were retro-fit "green" buildings where the aim was to minimise energy use required for heating without packing out the walls with huge amounts of standard insulation.

Admittedly it's still a fairly niche market; however, as the UK is moving towards ever lower energy use in buildings, I'd bet we'll see more it being used which should reduce the cost.

I'm not sure how "green" issues are progressing on your side of the pond though so can't comment on areas other than the UK.

[xpensive]

I wonder what the Boeing 787 will be like, anything less than 100 EUR per kg would be a surprise?

[747heavy]

An Airbus A380 comes to ~550$/kg if we use max. take-off weight for our calculation.

As the 787 is going to be lighter it will be more expensive per kg, unless it is much much cheaper.

if we take some of the 787 values posted on the net, we end up with app.
~1550$/kg for the empty airplane and ~ 754$/kg at max. take off weight
using values for the 787-8 model and a median prize estimate.