Paper mass: crumpled vs shredded. Who can explain?

The experiment has to be redone. There is a cat-tamination

The scale is recalibrating zero after each section of paper. 0.05/12 pieces= 0.004 which rounds to zero. Take them all off and put them back on at one time.

Square inch difference on scale. Crumpled has smaller point of interaction generating a read. Torn paper is spread out so sensor in scale can’t pick it up

There's a cat involved, so who knows?

Typical office paper has 80 g/m2 (0.26 oz/sq ft), therefore a typical A4 sheet (1⁄16 of a square metre) weighs 5 g (0.18 oz).

So, one issue is that we don’t see the weight prior to the manipulation, so we are unsure if the two pieces of paper started from the same condition (it’s implied but not documented).

It’s partially resting on the scale’s edge. Also, crumpled paper concentrates weight on a smaller area, making it easier for the scale to detect. Spread-out torn paper distributes weight over a larger area, possibly below the scale’s sensitivity threshold.

It’s the sensitivity of the scale. You dropped the crumpled mass, exerting a force on the scale. Whereas you gently placed each individual piece of torn paper on the scale one at a time. If you did same experiment with a balance scale. You would get identical results

Im going with: get a better scale and measure in a vacuum

It disperses it just like you would be if you were crawling over a thin sheet of ice to save your life 😆

😭