Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
When Graham and Ashkahn get to definitively answer a question, it’s like Christmas. Birds sing and the guys bust out their “Answering a question definitively” dance, which has the added side effect of better crop yields during the coming harvest. It’s an exciting time.
There’s a very straightforward mathematical equation for measuring the weight of salt water based on specific gravity, which is excellent. And useful!
Also, whoever wrote this question needs to contact Graham and Ashkahn ASAP!
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: Today’s question is, “how much does one gallon of Epsom salt saturated water weight? And, can I ever speak to you about an idea that I think would revolutionize the industry if you could help me to dream it possible?”
Ashkahn: That was part of the question?
Graham: Yeah. You wanna just do the first part first or-
Ashkahn: I guess so. Is that where the question ends or do they go into what the idea is?
Graham: No, they just want to know if they can speak to us about their idea.
Ashkahn: Oh, man, okay.
Graham: So, I guess the answer to that is yeah.
Ashkahn: Totally, yeah.
Graham: Definitely, yes. We love hearing ideas.
Ashkahn: I’m excited now. I wish they’d have written the whole thing in there.
Graham: I mean, it could revolutionize the industry.
Ashkahn: I can see how they don’t want us just broadcasting that out there.
Graham: Which I would have because obviously I’ll just read whatever’s in front of me.
Ashkahn: So, yeah, whoever this is, reach out. Get in touch.
Graham: Yeah man. Shoot us another question.
Ashkahn: Yeah, we’ll say it on the podcast. We’ll tell everybody your idea.
Graham: Unless you don’t want us to. In that case, we definitely won’t share it. So, the first part though, how much does one gallon of Epsom salt saturated water weigh? It’s not too hard to figure out.
Ashkahn: Yeah. It’s more than a gallon of water weighs.
Graham: And there you have it. You heard it from us.
Ashkahn: Okay. So, if you guys have other questions, you want to-
Graham: So, fortunately, the conversion with specific gravity of figuring out the weight of something is not the hardest thing in the world. It’s actually pretty simple. Just multiplication problem of you take the specific gravity and multiply it by, say the weight of water, which is 8.344 pounds.
Ashkahn: Per gallon.
Graham: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Per gallon. So, at 1.25 specific gravity, that’s gonna end up being 10.43 pounds per gallon, and around 1.3 specific gravity it’s gonna be about 10.85 pounds per gallon. And keep in mind, this is gonna vary a little bit. Not only on the specific gravity but on the actual temperature of the solution and on the pressure. But that shouldn’t change it too much.
Ashkahn: Those are marginal.
Graham: Yeah. So, just like the specific gravity is 1.25-1.3 it means that the weight of the gallon of salt water is going to be about 25%-30% heavier than a gallon of regular water.
Ashkahn: Okay. Yeah, that’s-
Graham: And send in that idea!
Ashkahn: Back to the important part of your question.
Graham: And pretty clear cut.
Ashkahn: Right.
Graham: Definitely feel free to run a little science experiment yourselves and prove us right or wrong on that.
Ashkahn: This is one of those rare times we actually know-
Graham: We actually know the answer and it’s concrete.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: We’re just gonna make this a really short episode. So, if you have any other questions for us, send them to floattanksolutions.com/podcast.
Recent Podcast Episodes
How Best to Heat Your Float Tank – DSP 180
In this episode, Graham and Ashkahn break down the pros and cons (not Kahns) of different types of heating typically used in float tanks. Aside from going over the most common types of heating, they also provide tips and tricks for keeping your tanks warm that don’t have to do with water temperature and making sure you’re providing a comfortable experience for your customers.
Tips on Managing Staff – DSP 179
Float On, for all its quirks, has ended up being very traditionally structured as a business. There are managers, co-managers, and employees who all have different responsibilities and commitments. Graham and Ashkahn break down how they came to structure the company this way, despite aggressively fighting against that mentality of a corporate, top down structure.
What’s the Difference Between Loans and Investments? – DSP 178
The financial cost to opening a float center is huge at the startup, given the high ticket cost of float tanks themselves, as well as the expensive technical construction that comes along with making your rooms sound/water/saltproof. It’s rare for a float center to open entirely self financed, so what are the best options for getting funding? Loans versus investments.
Graham and Ashkahn break down the differences in these two approaches weigh the pros and cons to both for float centers.
What About Vertical Float Tanks? – DSP 177
So for those of us who’ve wanted to float in a vertical tank ever since seeing Luke Skywaker use one in Empire Strikes Back, Graham and Ashkahn dish out what they know about vertical float tanks.
Fortunately, another one of Float On’s owners, Christopher Messer, actually makes vertical float tanks, so the guys have the inside scoop on all things vertical.
What Would Utilities be for a Float Tank Center in Maine? – DSP 176
If you wanna stump the Float On boys, you have to try harder than asking about the cost of utilities for a float center in Maine. They tackled this episode prepared and take the rare opportunity to show specific numbers for utility usage at Float On and what that breakdown would look like in Maine, with help from special guest Jake Marty.
Latest Blog Posts
It’s All the Same Day
The Float Conference has come and gone, but if this last year is any indication, it will come around again in what seems like no time at all. Sometimes, even the last four years seem like they've only been a few months. Other times, I can't remember a life that's not...
How to Monitor a Niche Industry… Like Floating!
A few years ago, if someone published information online about floating, chances are that it would spread quickly. There wasn't much available and what was available only had a small tight-knit circle to disseminate through. As the industry is growing, there are float...
Know Your Market – A Guide to Gathering Data
Have you ever tried to look up market statistics or information for float centers? If so, you’ve probably been left a little disappointed. Mining for float industry data means coming to the unfortunate realization that the internet doesn’t actually have everything on...
The Float Conference Podcast – Talks About Nothing
In the float industry, we believe there is no such thing as too much information. The more salt-filled information "floating" around, the more we are able to educate our customers about the different benefits of spending time in the tank. On August 9th and 10th we...
