Wet Copper?

I've got a bucket that holds 22lbs. of copper wire when full. Always 22lbs. Last week I left it outside full of copper wire and it rained. It sat there for 3 days. I emptied the water out of it and brought it in to the yard. Guess what. It weighed in at 28 lbs.!!
I've used this very same bucket several times before and this has never happened. So my question: could the 3 days of soaking in the rain water make the 6lb. difference?
:confused:

interesting...until an answer comes up i'm going to move all my buckets outside

Huh. Are you sure there just wasn't an extra 6lbs of copper in it this time? Because depending on the type of copper in that bucket some is always heavier than others to get that difference.

Oh wait, is the copper stripped? If it isn't maybe the casings soaked up some water.

I agree with newattitude on both ideas there.....

Reminds me of a story I heard almost 20 years ago when cardboard was worth alot of money..... This guy was shipping a load of cardboard - 53 foot trailer load..... and before it loaded, it got wet.... well of course that increased weight..... so every 5th or 6th load, this guy soaked down the cardboard before he shipped it out so he could make extra money... never did find out if he got busted or not

I doubt that it was absorbed 6lbs. of water is three quarts. I would say you had some material that was more dense this time. I am actually amazed that your weights are so consistent till now.

Well, after thinking about this a little more I guess I feel a little silly now. Yes, the wire was stripped. But you guys are probably right here. Different size wire. Never even thought about it. That bucket just kept coming up 22lbs. Yep, i most definitely feel silly!