Sunday NY Times Weight Analysis

Saturday the 25th of December, 2004
4 comments

NY Times front page

I started collecting a rough estimate of the weight of the Sunday New York Times after having a discussion about it with a friend from Australia. I’ve made mention of the heavy weight (and alien blocking powers) of the Sunday Times before, and now I was curious about it’s actual weight.

I have two scales in my apartment. The first is a small food scale that can barely handle any weight over 1 pound. The other is a bathroom scale that can’t handle weights under 25 pounds. I was pretty sure that the Sunday Times fell somewhere in between.

In order to weigh the Times, I had to do the only thing that was logically available to me (and within my budget)...I would get on the bathroom scale and weight myself, then get on with the Times and use the difference as the weight of the Times. While not being exact, it should give a close estimate of what the paper weighs.

Overview

  • There are 39 samples between 29 Aug 2004 and 7 Aug 2005.
  • The average weight of the NY Times was 4.2 lbs. (1.9 kg).
  • My average weight was 226.6 lbs. (102.8 kg).
  • The maximum weight for the NY Times was 6.0 lbs. (2.7 kg) and was seen 4 times.
  • My maximum weight of 231.0 lbs. (104.8 kg) was seen once.
  • The minimum weight for the NY Times was 3.0 lbs. (1.4 kg) and was seen 11 times.
  • My minimum weight of 224.0 lbs. (101.6 kg) was seen 4 times.

Individual Sample Data

Date Weight of
Paper
My Weight My Weight
With Paper
Cost of Paper Cost Per Pound Pic
Aug. 29, 2004
5.0 lbs.
229 lbs.
234 lbs.
$3.50
$0.70
pic
Sept. 5, 2004
4.0 lbs.
228 lbs.
232 lbs.
$3.50
$0.88
pic
Sept. 12, 2004
5.0 lbs.
228 lbs.
233 lbs.
$3.50
$0.70
 
Sept. 19, 2004
5.0 lbs.
226 lbs.
231 lbs.
$3.50
$0.70
pic
Sept. 26, 2004
4.0 lbs.
227 lbs.
231 lbs.
$3.50
$0.88
 
Oct. 3, 2004
4.0 lbs.
225 lbs.
229 lbs.
$3.50
$0.88
 
Oct. 10, 2004
5.0 lbs.
226 lbs.
231 lbs.
$3.50
$0.70
 
Oct. 17, 2004
4.0 lbs.
227 lbs.
231 lbs.
$3.50
$0.88
pic
Oct. 24, 2004
3.0 lbs.
229 lbs.
232 lbs.
$3.50
$1.17
pic
Oct. 31, 2004
3.0 lbs.
225 lbs.
228 lbs.
$3.50
$1.17
pic
Nov. 7, 2004
6.0 lbs.
227 lbs.
233 lbs.
$3.50
$0.58
 
Nov. 14, 2004
5.0 lbs.
226 lbs.
231 lbs.
$3.50
$0.70
pic
Nov. 21, 2004
6.0 lbs.
226 lbs.
232 lbs.
$3.50
$0.58
pic
Nov. 28, 2004
5.0 lbs.
224 lbs.
229 lbs.
$3.50
$0.70
 
Dec. 5, 2004
5.0 lbs.
225 lbs.
230 lbs.
$3.50
$0.70
 
Dec. 12, 2004
5.0 lbs.
227 lbs.
232 lbs.
$3.50
$0.70
pic
Dec. 19, 2004
4.0 lbs.
226 lbs.
230 lbs.
$3.50
$0.88
pic
Dec. 26, 2004
4.0 lbs.
226 lbs.
230 lbs.
$3.50
$0.88
pic
Jan. 2, 2005
3.0 lbs.
228 lbs.
231 lbs.
$3.50
$1.17
pic
Jan. 9, 2005
4.0 lbs.
227 lbs.
231 lbs.
$3.50
$0.88
pic
Jan. 16, 2005
3.0 lbs.
226 lbs.
229 lbs.
$3.50
$1.17
pic
Jan. 23, 2005
3.0 lbs.
225 lbs.
228 lbs.
$3.50
$1.17
pic
Jan. 30, 2005
4.0 lbs.
224 lbs.
228 lbs.
$3.50
$0.88
pic
Feb. 6, 2005
3.0 lbs.
226 lbs.
229 lbs.
$3.50
$1.17
pic
Feb. 13, 2005
4.0 lbs.
225 lbs.
229 lbs.
$3.50
$0.88
 
Feb. 20, 2005
6.0 lbs.
224 lbs.
230 lbs.
$3.50
$0.58
pic
Feb. 27, 2005
3.0 lbs.
228 lbs.
231 lbs.
$3.50
$1.17
pic
Mar. 6, 2005
5.0 lbs.
224 lbs.
229 lbs.
$3.50
$0.70
pic
Mar. 13, 2005
5.0 lbs.
227 lbs.
232 lbs.
$3.50
$0.70
pic
Mar. 20, 2005
6.0 lbs.
225 lbs.
231 lbs.
$3.50
$0.58
 
Mar. 27, 2005
3.0 lbs.
227 lbs.
230 lbs.
$3.50
$1.17
pic
Apr. 3, 2005
5.0 lbs.
227 lbs.
232 lbs.
$3.50
$0.70
 
Apr. 10, 2005
5.0 lbs.
227 lbs.
232 lbs.
$3.50
$0.70
 
Apr. 17, 2005
4.0 lbs.
226 lbs.
230 lbs.
$3.50
$0.88
pic
May 1, 2005
4.0 lbs.
230 lbs.
234 lbs.
$3.50
$0.88
pic
May 8, 2005
3.0 lbs.
231 lbs.
234 lbs.
$3.50
$1.17
pic
May 22, 2005
4.0 lbs.
228 lbs.
232 lbs.
$3.50
$0.88
 
Jul. 17, 2005
3.0 lbs.
227 lbs.
230 lbs.
$3.50
$1.17
 
Aug 7, 2005
3.0 lbs.
229 lbs.
232 lbs.
$3.50
$1.17
 

 

4 Total Comments
Henry says:
Jul 4, 2008

Great experiment! It would be interesting to see how these compare to the weights four years (and many lay-offs) later.

Boris says:
Oct 22, 2006

Josh, mate, you doing well with everything. Your projects, photos, U2, fishtank…
If Willie is serious, he should noticed that your max weight has been seen only once, but minimum has been seen four times. What is this telling him? Ah, some people!

Josh says:
Oct 16, 2006

First off, those weights are from a year ago.  Last time I checked, I was 215 pounds.  Second, how much should a six foot, six inch male weigh?

Willie says:
Oct 16, 2006

Man, a wonderful experiment. But Josh, you are overweight.