Several years ago, I posted this on a different magic board. It's been edited slightly for clarity, but not by much.

Being in the Air Force and stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, I have access to an electronic scale that is used to measure components going onboard satellites and other space and/or aircraft. This particular scale is accurate to 1/100,000th of a gram. Tonight while I was in the room where they keep it, I did what any self-respecting cardman would do if given the chance, I weighed my cards.

What I found startled me. Now hear this: The Ace of Spades is NOT the heaviest ace...by a long shot! We magicians have been spreading disinformation all of these years now to an unsuspecting public!

The weighings came out as follows:
AH: 1.48756g
AC: 1.52354g
AD: 1.50900g
AS: 1.51208g

A full deck w/o Jokers weighed in at 78.28521g.

By the way, the above scale provides hours of fun as we weigh things like signatures and fingerprints. That's right...you can weigh your fingerprints with this scale! If you let the scale sit in the open air, it will even measure the effect of someone walking past it. (It is normally kept and used in a sealed container to prevent air currents from registering and skewing the results.) For anyone who cares, my signature in Sharpie ink weighed in at 0.00167g.

The above card weighings were performed using a blue-backed Bicycle deck of poker cards. The pips were normal sized. (Heck, even I can tell the difference in weight between normal and jumbo index!) The deck in question was brand new. I have no data on whether blue cards are heavier than red. Your mileage may vary. I expect that everyone's patter will be updated to reflect this startling new data by close of business on Friday.

From now on the Ace of Clubs will be the leader ace, the last ace to twist, and the last ace to be cut to. Don't bother trying to explain this sudden reversal to your audiences, just show them the printout of my post...the results speak for themselves.

PS: I know it sounds funny, but I really did the above weighings, in case someone thinks this whole thing was a put-on.

Jason

PPS: The scale used was real, but unfortunately no-longer resides at Vandenberg.

Some of you guys really need to get out more !

Hehehehe.....

Do you think the results would of been different with a brand new pack of cards? I am guessing oil and dirt on the cards could have variables...

He said it was a brand new deck of cards.

Were you wearing gloves when doing these measurements?

So do Tally Hos weigh more than Bikes?
How about the Black Tigers, Ghost, Viper Decks?
You need to sample at least a dozen of each to compile statistically valid result.
I'm sure that the air force needs several cases of premium cards, they probably already spend $10 for a pack of Bikes. Why not get a case of each to determine to best deck for Mach speed travel.

We should compare the weight of a new deck and a used deck to find out how much sweat weighs

Because up here in Canada, we have a superior system of measurement, don't we?

I'm presently working on a card trick that involves saying that you can tell what card has been removed from the deck by weighing the left over deck in your hand.

It seems that, although this is academically interesting, it could, perhaps, lead to the most boring line of patter imaginable. Just think: "Now the Ace of Spades weighs 1.512 grams. Well, maybe a little more, because this isn't a *pristine* Ace of Spades. It's probably absorbed some sweat from my hands, and some oil. Also the weight of the card will be effected by the density of the wood pulp used to make the paper. So canadian pine might be heavier (or lighter. I'm not sure. I'm just sayin) than west-midlands U.K larch. Also, these cards might be heavier because I put them in my suitcase in Chicago, which is very arid in winter, but we're here in Jamaica, where it is just VASTLY more humid, so the cards might have absorbed a lot of moisture from the atmos, don'tcha know. So Call it 1.51 grams, and you'll be near as dammit, say, are you sleeping? Wake up! I'm about to do a doublelift that would astound Odin!"
The mind simply reels...

Do we have to consider you created a new Oil and Water plot ?

Magic Pierre,

I sense the start of a FISM-winning routine there! Work it up and practice it in Italian.

I think it might even be possible that such a routine could be devised where no trick is actually performed at all. Hmmmm...

When we're talking about differences of thousandths or millionths of a gram between cards, I would guess that the differences are more likely due to variations and imprecision in the manufacturing process (certain cards slightly thicker or slightly narrower or with slightly more coating) than the weight of the ink in the pips.

Threads like this, with references to a "leader ace" that absolutely everyone gets and joking asides built on minute details, are one of the reasons to like magic -- or anything where people achieve some mastery over something arcane. what would "getting out more" accomplish? attendance at the same mediocrity-rigged events and diversions as everyone else.

I must really be a nerd, because that's one of the better patter lines I've heard. I could see a spec digging it, too, if you deliver it enthusiastically and like you're sharing a really important secret.

You read my mind. You... You... You read my mind.