What are some unrealistic questions you've actually answered? by SoupCatcher

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What are some unrealistic questions you've actually answered?

POSTED BY: SOUPCATCHER
UPDATED: Thursday, July 13, 2006 16:30
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Thursday, July 13, 2006 12:30 PM

Okay. Title could be phrased better. This is spurred by the illegal immigration discussion where I shared a calculation I'd done on what the population of the US would look like if everyone in Mexico moved here. Totally unrealistic question. But fun to answer nonetheless.

So I was wondering if anyone else did this kind of thing: came up with totally random questions and then tried to answer them mathematically.
Kind of like a modern day, how many angels could dance on the head of a pin.

For example, I started wondering if we could fit every person on earth in Montana if they were standing (we can). And then how much space they could each have (somewhere around 600 square feet).

So have any of you ever tried to figure out answers to questions like that? Or am I the only weird one

?

* edited to add: I forgot to add that some of those people would have to tread water

* edited to add: I guess I'm looking for a distraction today. More useless information: If you divided the US up into 40 acre parcels, you could give one to each household in the world as long as the average size of the household was 117 people. But if you wanted to throw the mule into the bargain, you'd have to come up with 56.4 million of them.

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Thursday, July 13, 2006 2:48 PM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Sure.

How much would a bottle of booze be worth if its retail price equaled what it's sold for by the drink in a reasonably classy bar? Requires conversion of milliliters to ounces to jiggers and ponys, estimate of how much the bar pours per drink(asking is cheating), and, if you want to get fancy, deducting the cost of mixers and garnishes. Usually more fun after you've been in the bar for a while. Many napkins have been sacrificed.

Is it cheaper or faster to drive or fly from point A to point B? Factor in plane tickets, cab fare from home to airport and airport to destination, gas costs, auto wear and tear, actual door-to-door driving time, etc. Then I drive anyway, because I like it more than flying.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Thursday, July 13, 2006 3:17 PM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

I generally don't so that specific kind of unrealistic question. But I do "back of the envelope extreme" estimations for my job all the time. How many microlitres of liquid do I put in how many litres of gas to get a ppb concentration? (Answer - much, much less than a microlitre in 5 litres.)

And I have answered some oddball questions.

The saddest oddball question I answered for my niece was "why you can't get that ice cube that melted into the carpet back". (She has severe neurological issues and her brain was just not working right that day.)

The funniest oddball question I answered (when I worked in a hospital lab) was what other things could give you a false positive on a syphillis test (The answer is leprosy and MS).

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Thursday, July 13, 2006 3:23 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

What is the cubic volume of all the people in the world if you stacked them up like cordwood? (less than one cubic mile.)

---------------------------------
Don't piss in my face and tell me it's raining.

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Thursday, July 13, 2006 3:45 PM

HERO

Quote:
Originally posted by SoupCatcher:
* edited to add: I forgot to add that some of those people would have to tread water

Couldn't we add the Dakotas so they could at least all be on dry land?

And how many Walmarts would it take to support them?

And if they all jumped at the same time what would the earthquake reading be?

Could we put the Muslims in one corner and the Isrealis in the other and maybe put someone neither side hates in between...like the Australians...nobody hates them...except the lesbians, but they can all but in South Dakota so long as they don't try to get married or abort any babies.

H

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Thursday, July 13, 2006 4:05 PM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Edited due to second thoughts.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Thursday, July 13, 2006 4:12 PM

SOUPCATCHER

Geezer, the answer to the drive or fly question for me to go to Southern California from Northern California has changed back and forth over the past six years (flying cheaper before 2001, post 9/11 driving cheaper because of extended time before check-in, gas over $3/gallon and it gets close to equalling out).

Rue, I've been trying to develop my back-of-the-envelope calculation skill over the past many years. I'm always impressed when someone can whip out a ballpark estimate that is decently reliable. It really helps in the design process when you can semi-evaluate alternatives on the fly rather than waiting for a detailed analysis. So I'm jealous

.

And now I'm wondering if the money I saved drinking scotch in Scotland would've paid for the plane ticket there and back. Hmmmm. I just wish I could remember how much scotch I drank during the three weeks I was there. On second thought, maybe it's better I can't remember...

* edited to add: Oh! And now in my best Austin Powers voice, "It's the leprosy, baby. I swear."

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Thursday, July 13, 2006 4:26 PM

SOUPCATCHER

Quote:
Originally posted by Hero:
And how many Walmarts would it take to support them?

And if they all jumped at the same time what would the earthquake reading be?

Now you've got me wondering. If every American worker was unionized with full benefits and a good pension plan and the rest of the world's workers worked at Wal-mart, which group would come out ahead?

And there was a student project in one of my classes that was about measuring, as the professor jokingly described it, "the vibration in the earth caused by all the waves crashing on all the beaches throughout the world."

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Thursday, July 13, 2006 4:30 PM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

Soupcatcher,

We used to have a (students' lame) joke in physics - it was called 'conservation of decimal points'. Decimal points can't be created or destroyed. So if your calculation was off an order of magnitude too high, someone else was off one too low. Anyway, it's all about order of magnitude ...

"And now I'm wondering if the money I saved drinking scotch in Scotland would've paid for the plane ticket there and back. Hmmmm. I just wish I could remember how much scotch I drank during the three weeks I was there. On second thought, maybe it's better I can't remember..." HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA Ha Ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha .... I was cackling out loud for a loooong time. Now they think I'm a crazy person - laughing here all by myself.

Yeah, leprosy. THAT'S what that was!

edited to add: You drank scotch in Scotland. Single malt? Now I'm jealous ...

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