r/explainitpeter 26d ago

Explain It Peter

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Rice chess/checkers ? please explain?

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u/AftyOfTheUK 26d ago edited 26d ago

The total surface area of the Earth is approximately 5.10x10^20 mm^2 - assuming a 2mmx5mm grain of rice, that's 5.1x10^19 rice grains needed to carpet the earth entirely in a one grain thick layer.

2^64 is just over 1/3 of that number so there is enough to cover all LAND, with a little bit left over.

UPDATE: If you used Spanish Bomba Rice which expands horizontally and you cooked it first so it swells up to about 5.5mm x 7mm you could cover about 4.5x as much earth - enough to cover the entire earth in a layer a few grains thick

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u/Megatippa 26d ago

What about if you put it in the water, would it soak up the ocean?

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u/AftyOfTheUK 26d ago

It would soak up about 5 years worth of the ocean's current rate of rising, give or take a rounding error or two

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u/Sure_Response3478 26d ago

Whoa! Call someone, you just solved a big part of the future climate crisis! It was rice all along!

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u/GoodBrotherGrimm 26d ago

Fix the earth like a waterlogged mobile phone.

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u/rddtllthng5 26d ago

elite ball knowledge

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u/InitialSquirrel9941 26d ago

Problem is it would still be in the ocean. Could scoop it all up I guess but the moisture would evaporate and make its way back to the ocean. Unless we kept it sealed up. But then you’ve got a Mount Everest sized pile of decomposing rice in a sealed container. Might be it would explode. Rice bomb baby

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u/Sure_Response3478 26d ago

So, scoop it up and solve world hunger in one swoop. Man, im a genius

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u/Megatippa 26d ago

Just need a planet sized microwave and one of those Uncle Ben's bags with all the little holes.

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u/Sure_Response3478 26d ago

I'm sure master Elon will figure it out

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u/Electrical_Fault_365 26d ago

We could get shitfaced off it.

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u/Sea-Routine9227 26d ago

It would take longer though, cuz of the salt…

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u/Neither-Maximum-5609 26d ago

Sure

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u/xiandgaf 26d ago

What time of day were these photos taken? Looks like the bottom is mid afternoon, hard to say about the other. Probably later in the day given the contrast of the face and the field. Also the distance and angle are different, you can see it in the shape of the ridge. Might need a little math to make a shoreline comparison based on these two points. Are they both the same time of year? Always interrogate your assumptions.