# What is the heaviest thing ever built by mankind? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 1, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-heaviest-thing-ever-built-by-mankind/672844 "2013-11-01T14:58:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-heaviest-thing-ever-built-by-mankind/672844/41 "2013-11-03T07:05:19Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > There are millions of Christians in the US alone who say it wasn’t created by mankind. Their evidence is a little thin, but they’re quite adamant about it. That’s only the first couple specimens, though. All the subsequent humans were created by other humans, per Dave Barry, “using simple tools you probably have around the house.” ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-heaviest-thing-ever-built-by-mankind/672844/42 "2013-11-03T08:32:56Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > There’s 1,000 kg gold coins. I beleive that would be heaviest by volume. I’m not sure what you mean by “heaviest by volume”, but a block of 1,000 kilograms of gold wouldn’t be that big volume-wise. Gold has a density of 19.3 grammes per cubic centimetre, so that would just be a cube 37 centimetres, or 15 inches, long on each side (assuming that it’s pure 24 carat gold). And gold is not the heaviest metal used on a larger scale. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-heaviest-thing-ever-built-by-mankind/672844/43 "2013-11-03T16:54:00Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Of course, the OP specified ‘thing’ not ‘structure’. Although the title says “thing,” the OP actually asks for a “single structure.” > [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > How heavy are the various electromagnetic emanations emitted by man-made things? > > Maybe, as to unity, the comple run of _Gunsmoke_ could be considered. > > Plus, OP of course was on weight, not mass. Might some of our man-made radiation have made it to [V4641 Sgr?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V4641_Sagittarii), or some black-hole closer? > [@Superhal](#): > > There’s 1,000 kg gold coins. I beleive that would be heaviest by volume. These certainly don’t qualify as a structure, nor could they even be considered a single “thing.” At best they are a category of things. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-heaviest-thing-ever-built-by-mankind/672844/44 "2013-11-03T17:01:50Z")
If you want to account for weight vs sprawlyness, you could mathematically weigh the object like this. Pick a volume at the “center”. It weighs X. Pick another volume that is distance Y from the center. It weighs Z. Take 1/Y multiply that by Z and add to X. Repeat for all volume elements of the structure. Add up all the numbers. Biggest sum wins. BTW I aint digging up all the data to do this. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-heaviest-thing-ever-built-by-mankind/672844/45 "2013-11-03T19:42:25Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > If you want to account for weight vs sprawlyness, you could mathematically weigh the object like this. > > Pick a volume at the “center”. It weighs X. Pick another volume that is distance Y from the center. It weighs Z. Take 1/Y multiply that by Z and add to X. > > Repeat for all volume elements of the structure. Add up all the numbers. Biggest sum wins. > > BTW I aint digging up all the data to do this. Kinda weird. Also gives units of kg/m, which also seems weird to me. I propose a tweak- multiply result by shortest radius. Gets you back to mass, and gives full credit to big blocky things. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-heaviest-thing-ever-built-by-mankind/672844/46 "2013-11-03T21:13:55Z")
> [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](#): > > Kinda weird. Also gives units of kg/m, which also seems weird to me. > > I propose a tweak- multiply result by shortest radius. Gets you back to mass, and gives full credit to big blocky things. Actually, I propose we figure out how to get all the spaghetti things out of the running entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-heaviest-thing-ever-built-by-mankind/672844/47 "2013-11-04T03:15:35Z")
Weight is really only of interest when you talk about moving the object. For anything that rests on the ground or is designed to be stationary - the mass is fairly immaterial. The individual components (bricks etc) - yes, it’s important how much they weigh because they have to be transported. I guess the largest man-made objects ever made that moved would be ships - or possibly Oil platforms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-heaviest-thing-ever-built-by-mankind/672844.md?page=2)