Path: ...!news-out.netnews.com!postmaster.netnews.com!us2.netnews.com!not-for-mail X-Trace: DXC=68F=J^FSWF?nE_ZM:5?BK1U5[F2hIijD?7J470dMQQ7;J4R`5ADBYn2Mo;g06So@_7\lfPTGbeKk;NA[Zeg5^Tk7f@HSLgR[]o87dKkgDfTED76 X-Complaints-To: support@frugalusenet.com Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2024 14:46:52 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design Content-Language: en-US From: bitrex Subject: OT: central limit theorem Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 18 Message-ID: <662bf69c$0$8484$882e4bbb@reader.netnews.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 127.0.0.1 X-Trace: 1714157212 reader.netnews.com 8484 127.0.0.1:37905 Bytes: 1639 I have one of these inexpensive Ikea bookshelves for storing some of my electronics books: I noticed the center shelf was starting to sag a few degrees. :( The assembly manual specifies a weight limit of 33 lbs evenly distributed which seemed like an oddly specific number. So I weighed the books on the shelves, which aren't particularly well organized other than to fully fill the available space widthwise on each shelf. A random assortment of hardbacks and paperbacks, some are tall and skinny, some are short and fat. And each shelf was clocking in at 33 lbs +/- 2 lbs. So I guess a heuristic for filling these shelves is just fill 'em up then remove the heaviest book, and de-rate the center shelf by maybe 5- 10 lbs because it's unsupported by a backing.