Difference between revisions of "Size of humankind"
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Therefore all humankind is [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=66.4+liters+*+6.93E09 4.602 * 10^11 liters of stuff], which correspond to '''a cube with a side of 772 meters''' or a sphere with slightly less than 1 km diameter. | Therefore all humankind is [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=66.4+liters+*+6.93E09 4.602 * 10^11 liters of stuff], which correspond to '''a cube with a side of 772 meters''' or a sphere with slightly less than 1 km diameter. | ||
| − | This roughly corresponds to couple of hills or a small lake. There is plenty of icebergs larger than that. We would be barely a blip on a map of the planet: {{en|Lake Garda}} in Italy is more than 100 times larger. Wolfram Alpha tells us that it's 0.92 times the water in the Sydney Harbour, but it hardly seems suggestive to me, perhaps because I'm not Australian. | + | This roughly corresponds to a couple of hills or a small lake. There is plenty of icebergs larger than that. We would be barely a blip on a map of the planet: {{en|Lake Garda}} in Italy is more than 100 times larger. Wolfram Alpha tells us that it's 0.92 times the water in the Sydney Harbour, but it hardly seems suggestive to me, perhaps because I'm not Australian. |
The mass is unimpressive as well. Here Wolfram Alpha is a bit contradictory, but 62 kg seems a reasonable value given the volume above. This means that we talk of [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=62+kg+*+6.93E09 4.3*10^11 kg] (funnily WA tell us it's 1.4 the mass of all humans alive, but it gives no clue on how it arrived to this value). But WA tell us something cool in comparison: [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=4.297%C3%9710^11+kilograms&lk=1 there is 23 times more gold in the oceans than human mass]. | The mass is unimpressive as well. Here Wolfram Alpha is a bit contradictory, but 62 kg seems a reasonable value given the volume above. This means that we talk of [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=62+kg+*+6.93E09 4.3*10^11 kg] (funnily WA tell us it's 1.4 the mass of all humans alive, but it gives no clue on how it arrived to this value). But WA tell us something cool in comparison: [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=4.297%C3%9710^11+kilograms&lk=1 there is 23 times more gold in the oceans than human mass]. | ||
Given both values, if we had a sphere the same mass and density of human beings in space, it would be a miserable body like a small asteroid, with a lousy gravitational field: [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=gravity+acceleration+4.297%C3%9710^11+kilograms&a=*FS-_**GravitationalAcceleration.g-.*GravitationalAcceleration.r--&f2=0.5+km&x=0&y=0&f=GravitationalAcceleration.r_0.5+km&a=*FVarOpt.1-_**-.***GravitationalAcceleration.h---.*-- 0.115 mm/second^2] of acceleration. The escape velocity would be of little more than 1 km/h. | Given both values, if we had a sphere the same mass and density of human beings in space, it would be a miserable body like a small asteroid, with a lousy gravitational field: [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=gravity+acceleration+4.297%C3%9710^11+kilograms&a=*FS-_**GravitationalAcceleration.g-.*GravitationalAcceleration.r--&f2=0.5+km&x=0&y=0&f=GravitationalAcceleration.r_0.5+km&a=*FVarOpt.1-_**-.***GravitationalAcceleration.h---.*-- 0.115 mm/second^2] of acceleration. The escape velocity would be of little more than 1 km/h. | ||
Revision as of 16:08, 6 February 2011
How large is humankind in volume? Surely we're many, so our volume must be huge, isn't it?
It seems from Wolfram Alpha that the average human volume is around 66.4 liters. The current human population is 6.93 billion people.
Therefore all humankind is 4.602 * 10^11 liters of stuff, which correspond to a cube with a side of 772 meters or a sphere with slightly less than 1 km diameter.
This roughly corresponds to a couple of hills or a small lake. There is plenty of icebergs larger than that. We would be barely a blip on a map of the planet: Lake Garda in Italy is more than 100 times larger. Wolfram Alpha tells us that it's 0.92 times the water in the Sydney Harbour, but it hardly seems suggestive to me, perhaps because I'm not Australian.
The mass is unimpressive as well. Here Wolfram Alpha is a bit contradictory, but 62 kg seems a reasonable value given the volume above. This means that we talk of 4.3*10^11 kg (funnily WA tell us it's 1.4 the mass of all humans alive, but it gives no clue on how it arrived to this value). But WA tell us something cool in comparison: there is 23 times more gold in the oceans than human mass.
Given both values, if we had a sphere the same mass and density of human beings in space, it would be a miserable body like a small asteroid, with a lousy gravitational field: 0.115 mm/second^2 of acceleration. The escape velocity would be of little more than 1 km/h.