‘77 includes no explicit mention of volume other than referencing mass displacement, but the definition of that is never defined. ‘88 did see the start of the volumetric system with the addition of the phrase “As a rough guide, one ton equals 14 cubic meters (the volume of one ton of liquid hydrogen)”. In other words, it’s a case of MM trying to provide a tool instead of an absolute answer: the tool is to ask if a component is more or less dense than LyHyd. Which since I am working (in my copious spare time between building shows, cleaning, and holiday prep) on a mass based system, this sort of discussion is quite useful for me.


On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 06:02 Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:
On 28Nov2019 0204, Cian Witherspoon wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 04:37 Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> My '77 Book 2 talks about tons displacement, and 'displacement', so it's
>> clearly talking volume.
>>
> No, 77 is pretty explicitly mass based - yes, it’s mass displacement, but
> page 17 “all non starships consume fuel at a rate of 10 kilograms (1/100th
> of a ton)...”, while page 43 provides guidelines for determining how much
> of an item is present in a ton of its matching trade good, and also makes
> it clear that trade goods are measured by weight.

Which is the same language used on '81 Book 2, which is accepted to use
volume-based ship design.

By my reading, both editions are talking volume for spaceship design.
'77 talking about fuel consumption in mass doesn't change this, given
that a ton of fuel is a ton of mass and a ton of displacement. Also,
both appear to be using tons mass when discussing cargo and vehicle
masses. This means that the system seems to assume 14^3 per ton of cargo
mass, and the same for vehicles in their hangers. Low density, but not
insane, I suppose. Where it goes nuts is that it then assumes the same
for carried small craft.

--
Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com>
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