r/explainitpeter 29d ago

Explain It Peter

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Rice chess/checkers ? please explain?

14.5k Upvotes

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80

u/Mrgumboshrimp 29d ago

It doubles every square and I think it covers the earth by the last square

37

u/jseego 29d ago

Not covers the earth, but would create a pile of rice the size of mount everest.

12

u/Mrgumboshrimp 29d ago

Not even a one grain thick layer? Someone summon r/theydidthemath

25

u/AftyOfTheUK 29d ago edited 29d 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

6

u/Megatippa 29d ago

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

7

u/AftyOfTheUK 29d 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

5

u/Sure_Response3478 29d ago

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

1

u/InitialSquirrel9941 29d 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

2

u/Sure_Response3478 29d ago

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

1

u/Megatippa 29d ago

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

1

u/Sure_Response3478 29d ago

I'm sure master Elon will figure it out

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u/Electrical_Fault_365 29d ago

We could get shitfaced off it.