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Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

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Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#21
post #7

So is rest of the earth; Youtube channel Vsauce covered this in one their videos https://youtu.be/mxhxL1LzKww?t=721

I recall Neil deGrasse Tyson mentioning that the whole earth would be smoother than the smoothest billiards ball if scaled down. I found that surprising.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#22
post #7

So is rest of the earth; Youtube channel Vsauce covered this in one their videos https://youtu.be/mxhxL1LzKww?t=721

I recall Neil deGrasse Tyson mentioning that the whole earth would be smoother than the smoothest billiards ball if scaled down. I found that surprising.

Wow, that scale! Thanks for posting that!

If my calculations are right, Earth's diameter is about 12000km and its highest/lowest places are about 10km, so about 0.001 If a billiard ball is about 10cm, it's highest/lowest places equivalent to earth would be 0.1mm.

Not sure what are the standards for billiard smoothness, but that seems very smooth to me.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#23
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"So is rest of the earth" ... when taken as a whole, though. Switzerland is not flat as a pancake, for example.

From what I understood from the video, the surface irregularities a general pancake can have when stretched to dimensions of the earth would lead to 10km high feature; Given even Mt. Everest is edit: Typo

The peaks measure ~9km above sea level. The deepest portions of the ocean add another 3-4km.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#24
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I understood from the video, the surface irregularities a general pancake can have when stretched to dimensions of the earth would lead to 10km high feature; Given even Mt. Everest is edit: Typo

The peaks measure ~9km above sea level. The deepest portions of the ocean add another 3-4km.

Not sure how to read this, but have you heard of the Mariana Trench?

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall Neil deGrasse Tyson mentioning that the whole earth would be smoother than the smoothest billiards ball if scaled down. I found that surprising.

Wow, that scale! Thanks for posting that! If my calculations are right, Earth's diameter is about 12000km and its highest/lowest places are about 10km, so about 0.001 If a billiard ball is about 10cm, it's highest/lowest places equivalent to earth would be 0.1mm. Not sure what are the standards for billiard smoothness, but that seems very smooth to me.

0.1mm is not very smooth. According to wikipedia, 150 grit sandpaper has average particle size of 90-100µm

edit: of course there is vigorous internet commentary about billiard ball smoothness compared to earth:

https://possiblywrong.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/is-the-earth-...

https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/10763/is-earth-...

https://billiards.colostate.edu/faq/ball/smooth/

Which mostly seem to agree that earth definitely is not as smooth as a (new) billiards ball, but there is lots of debate about the details.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall Neil deGrasse Tyson mentioning that the whole earth would be smoother than the smoothest billiards ball if scaled down. I found that surprising.

Wow, that scale! Thanks for posting that! If my calculations are right, Earth's diameter is about 12000km and its highest/lowest places are about 10km, so about 0.001 If a billiard ball is about 10cm, it's highest/lowest places equivalent to earth would be 0.1mm. Not sure what are the standards for billiard smoothness, but that seems very smooth to me.

A billiard ball is about 50mm in diameter. I guess the question is to what tolerance they are made. I wouldn’t expect a small feature to stick up (you’d be able to feel or see those fairly easily) but the overall deviation from a perfect sphere could easily be that large.

Re: Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake (2003)

#29

There are places in Kansas where you can turn 360 degrees and see not a hill, tree, structure, or any landmarks at all (other than the road). You see the curve of the earth. It looks like a golden ocean.

Parts of Iowa and Illinois are much flatter than any parts of Kansas I’ve ever been to. Incredibly so.

People romanticize this idea that Kansas is a flat nothing-land, luckily most of them also stay away. Kansas is only the 7th flattest state, even https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/flattest-st...

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