Facts that shocked you

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

RedAndy said:

...that one about grains of rice on a chessboard: if you put one grain on the first square, then 2 on the next, then 4 on the next, then 8, then 16.... keep doubling the number of grains every square... by the time you get to the top of the board that's more rice than has ever been grown or over will be.

or something like that.

How big would the chess board need to be?

[RedAndy]

"quite" big... big enough to hold quite a lot of rice....

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

RedAndy said:

"quite" big... big enough to hold quite a lot of rice....

If they were laid flat, rather than in a pile (so you could count them)

I think each square would need to be 1,125,000,000,000 kilometres. I'd agree, that is rather big

[ajprice]

I know who could help...

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

RedAndy said:

"quite" big... big enough to hold quite a lot of rice....

If they were laid flat, rather than in a pile (so you could count them)

I think each square would need to be 1,125,000,000,000 kilometres. I'd agree, that is rather big

...and if you could count 300 grains a minute it'd take you 41,666,666,666,667 days.

Imagine if you lost count or nudged the board towards the end.

[ajprice]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

RedAndy said:

"quite" big... big enough to hold quite a lot of rice....

If they were laid flat, rather than in a pile (so you could count them)

I think each square would need to be 1,125,000,000,000 kilometres. I'd agree, that is rather big

...and if you could count 300 grains a minute it'd take you 41,666,666,666,667 days.

Imagine if you lost count or nudged the board towards the end.

If you laid a line of grains if rice completely around the equator, most of them would get wet.

[Puggit]

There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Earth

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Puggit said:

There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Earth

Who's counted either? (And how long did it take )

[President Merkin]

The Mary Rose had a sister ship called the Peter Pomegranate.

[Terminator X]

ZedLeg said:

Some people have very little imagination.

Also that our DNA has 60% in common with a banana’s

98% common with a chimp? Needs a fact check.

TX.

[LordLoveLength]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Puggit said:

There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Earth

Who's counted either? (And how long did it take )

Well I was counting them and you’ve made me lose count now….

Anyway, China has produced more CO2 in the 7 years between 2013 and 2020 than Britain has since the start of the Industrial Revolution (220 years+)

[Pistom]

The Mini Metro tartan trim was based on the gullwing Mercedes (300SL) which in turn was a nod to the Mercedes racing drivers of the time. Sterling Moss used blue, Fangio used red and Karl Kling used green.

I've really no idea why the Metro had it though.

[mikey_b]

Another maths one - you can tell if any number is divisible by three by adding up the numbers that comprise your starting number. It doesn't matter what order you do them in, if they eventually all add up to a 3, 6 or 9 then your starting number was divisible by three.

81: 8+1=9, so exactly divisible by three.
128: 1+2+8=11 1+1=2, so not exactly divisible by three.
6534: 6+5+3+4=18 1+8=9, so exactly divisible by three.
312987: 3+1+2+9+8+7=30 3+0=3, so exactly divisible by three.

Not terribly useful in general life, although a fairly quick way of knocking out possible prime numbers from a list to choose from in your 11+, which was why I taught it my daughter.

[otolith]

mikey_b said:

Another maths one - you can tell if any number is divisible by three by adding up the numbers that comprise your starting number. It doesn't matter what order you do them in, if they eventually all add up to a 3, 6 or 9 then your starting number was divisible by three.

81: 8+1=9, so exactly divisible by three.
128: 1+2+8=11 1+1=2, so not exactly divisible by three.
6534: 6+5+3+4=18 1+8=9, so exactly divisible by three.
312987: 3+1+2+9+8+7=30 3+0=3, so exactly divisible by three.

Not terribly useful in general life, although a fairly quick way of knocking out possible prime numbers from a list to choose from in your 11+, which was why I taught it my daughter.

There are other divisibility rules.

https://prime-numbers.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Divi...

[bazza white]

Milkyway said:

The Ford Escort Cosworth should have had a triple deck rear spoiler.
It was shelved due to bean counters.... even though it produced 30% more downforce.

Edited by Milkyway on Sunday 25th June 18:10

Or someone sensible at ford said it looks a bit crap sort it out. May have been the designers original intentions however i bet every car goes though the same process of changing before sign off. Only once signed off is it the way I was supposed to be really. Imagine how manu looney designed get shelved.

[Doofus]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

RedAndy said:

"quite" big... big enough to hold quite a lot of rice....

If they were laid flat, rather than in a pile (so you could count them)

I think each square would need to be 1,125,000,000,000 kilometres. I'd agree, that is rather big

...and if you could count 300 grains a minute it'd take you 41,666,666,666,667 days.

Imagine if you lost count or nudged the board towards the end.

Yeah, but you know how many grains there are so only a numpty would try to count them...

[thegreenhell]

Pistom said:

The Mini Metro tartan trim was based on the gullwing Mercedes (300SL) which in turn was a nod to the Mercedes racing drivers of the time. Sterling Moss used blue, Fangio used red and Karl Kling used green.

I've really no idea why the Metro had it though.

I thought it was to match those tartan blankets that OAPs seem to like.

[italianjob1275]

There were more horses in the German army in WW2 than during WW1

Weren’t mechanised you see… one of the reasons they lost

[Doofus]

Pistom said:

The Mini Metro tartan trim was based on the gullwing Mercedes (300SL) which in turn was a nod to the Mercedes racing drivers of the time. Sterling Moss used blue, Fangio used red and Karl Kling used green.

I've really no idea why the Metro had it though.

Did you copy and paste my post from the Harry's Garage thread and not even credit me?

ETA. And the Metro trim wasn't based on it. Neither was the Ford Capri.

Edited by Doofus on Monday 26th June 18:32

[Grumps.]

prand said:

Milkyway said:

The Ford Escort Cosworth should have had a triple deck rear spoiler.
It was shelved due to bean counters.... even though it produced 30% more downforce.

Edited by Milkyway on Sunday 25th June 18:10

Frank Stephenson was inspired by a triplane I believe.

I can't believe it was just bean counters that blocked it. If it was that effective it would have been used in competitions, probably came a cropper during homologation or MOT type approval..

Ignorance here but surely creating more downforce would in turn reduce power therefore making the car ‘slower’?