20 thousand. trillion tons......

[montanaskier]

Just heard on the discovery channel that everyday in Alaska, 20 thousand trillion tons of ice move across Alaska. That number is hard to understand.

[Bizarro-Squatch]

That number is hard to understand.

It's just 20 quadrillion...what's so hard about that?

[montanaskier]

ohhhhhhh....like my bank account.....got it.

[timvwcom]

It's just 20 quadrillion...what's so hard about that?

Hmmm... Would be fun to see that number written out;

20,000,000,000,000 tons ? That is a great weight!!!

or 40,000,000,000,000,000 pounds? Wow, a lot of zeros... a very GW of ice moving across Alaska.

[filthyfrenchbum]

Hmmm... Would be fun to see that number written out;

20,000,000,000,000 tons ? That is a great weight!!!

or 40,000,000,000,000,000 pounds? Wow, a lot of zeros... a very GW of ice moving across Alaska.

You fucked up I think, 20,000 low.

20,000,000,000,000,000 is the number I believe. A lot of ice

[timvwcom]

You fucked up I think, 20,000 low.

20,000,000,000,000,000 is the number I believe. A lot of ice

20(quad),000(tri),000(bil),000(mil),000(thou),000. ..

You is right!!! Thanks... Buy hey, I was only 1,000 times low (000).

so would be this in pounds;
40,000,000,000,000,000,000... or 40 quintillion pounds? Eh?

WTF??? Just checked at websters.com...

quin·til·lion /kwɪnˈtɪlyən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kwin-til-yuhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, plural -lions, (as after a numeral) -lion, adjective
–noun
1. a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 18 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 30 zeros.
–adjective
2. amounting to one quintillion in number.

I know they've got money and weight messed up there... but what gives them the right to have a different counting system???

[gorms]

You fucked up I think, 20,000 low.

20,000,000,000,000,000 is the number I believe. A lot of ice

this is how we lose space shuttles.
40,000,000,000,000,000,000 lbs
20,000 trillion tons = 1 shit ton

[timvwcom]

this is how we lose space shuttles.
40,000,000,000,000,000,000 lbs
20,000 trillion tons = 1 shit ton

You had to go and say it? FYI I didn't lose my space shuttle... I just can't find it right now!!!

[DJSapp]

1 ft^3 of ice = ~65 lbs
1 cy of ice = ~1755 lbs
1 sqmi = ~30 million sqyd = ~ 30 million tons per 3 feet thick
Alaska only has 570,374 sqmi of area

Lets say it's 3000 feet thick so
1 sqmi @ 3000' = 30 billion tons ice

20,000,000,000,000,000
-----------------------
30,000,000,000

equals ~670,000 Square miles of ice, 3000 feet deep. And that would cover all of Alaska and a good part of BC.

I think you need to get your ears cleaned.

[Telenater]

If you're going to get all technical on it, I'd suggest that the ice can probably cover the lakes and the bays that make up the remaining 86k square miles of what is technically Alaska. That leaves only 3k or so square miles to ice for Canada and I suspect most of that would go to the Yukon with the longest border with AK.

Of course, we're both making lots of assumptions which only reinforces the fact that if your calculations are correct he heard wrong.

[gorms]

I get 7,357,962 square miles
[40,000,000,000,000,000,000/(5280*5280*3000*65)]


--maybe he could of heard wrong....but it was cool to think about that much ice moving

math is tough at this hour though--I hope it is right

[splat]

this is how we lose space shuttles.
40,000,000,000,000,000,000 lbs
20,000 trillion tons = 1 shit ton

Thank you.
I know I understand now.
1 lost shuttle = a shit ton of trouble.

[montanaskier]

always possible i heard it wrong, but the wife and I both heard that #(does not mean it is right). It was on Fearless Planet on the Disc. Channel. A LOT of ice regardless.

[KnuckleDragger]

I saw that last night too. Dont know what the number was 2 or 20 or whatever, but it was definitely x thousand trillion tons.

[DJSapp]

I get 7,357,962 square miles
[40,000,000,000,000,000,000/(5280*5280*3000*65)]


--maybe he could of heard wrong....but it was cool to think about that much ice moving

math is tough at this hour though--I hope it is right

Try again with your math this morning, your answer is dimensionless

[40e18 lbs/(5280ft*5280ft*3000ft*65lb/ft^3)] = 7,357,000 nothings

[Tippster]

"Hoo-jers"

[philippeR]

Ah, metric system...
1 ton = 1000 kgs = 1000 liters = 1 cubic meter.

That's still a shitload of ice.

[gorms]

[40e18 lbs/(5280ft*5280ft*3000ft*65lb/ft^3)] = 7,357,000 nothings

Except it is [40e18lbs/(5280ft/mile*5280ft/mile*3000ft*65lb/ft^3)] = 7,357,000 miles^2....right?

[cantunamunch]

Except it is [40e18lbs/(5280ft/mile*5280ft/mile*3000ft*65lb/ft^3)] = 7,357,000 miles^2....right?

Where's the treadmill in that pic?

[TeleHoar]

Just heard on the discovery channel that everyday in Alaska, 20 thousand trillion tons of ice move across Alaska.

That only happens when AKPM jumps into the sea.

[timvwcom]

Except it is [40e18lbs/(5280ft/mile*5280ft/mile*3000ft*65lb/ft^3)] = 7,357,000 miles^2....right?

Where's the treadmill in that pic?

What the hell did you do to my shuttle???

[DJSapp]

Except it is [40e18lbs/(5280ft/mile*5280ft/mile*3000ft*65lb/ft^3)] = 7,357,000 miles^2....right?

edit: I'm a moron

[gorms]

Ahh unit conversions --if this isn't right I have a lot of work to recheck

lb/(ft/mi*ft/mi*ft*lb/ft^3 )-->lb/(lb/mi^2)
lb/(lb/mi^2) = lb * mi^2/lb = mi^2

[DJSapp]

Oops, sorry gorm, I'm f'd up, our numbers do agree within rounding.

1 sqmi = ~30 million sqyd = ~ 30 million tons per 3 feet thick

BZZT!!!

1 sqmi = ~ 3 million sqyd, therefore 6.7 million sqmi, 3000 ft thick with a bunch of rounding done by me.

Fun fact: the surface of the earth is 197,000,000 sqmi.

The 20,000 trillion number may have been the amount of ice on the planet, as far as alaska, I don't buy it.

[Cliff Huckable]

Ah, metric system...
1 ton = 1000 kgs = 1000 liters = 1 cubic meter.

That's still a shitload of ice.

It's always amusing watching Americans and Brits try to figure out big numbers and measurements.

American: "So, we've concluded that we are 100 quintrillion dollars in debt."

Britmerican: "That jibes with our data: 100 gillintons, give or take a wick-be-tralling or two."

American: "Let's move on to the weight of that big rock over there."

Britmerican: "The one near the lorry?"

American: "His name is Laurie? How tall do you think that guy is, btw?"

Britmerican: "I'd say the rock weighs about 10 stone, a guilder, two ricklebrakes, and a half-bushel of acorns. And I'd guess Mr. Laurie to be 1 rod, seven leagues tall...maybe a rod, seven leagues, and a grain."

American: "I figure the rock at 16 cubits minus a half-ricklebrake. Laurie at three furlongs minus a dram."

Britamerican: "Could be. Care for a lemon squash?"

American: "Boy howdy, do I! It'll go great with these deep-fried cheesecakeburgers."