Friday, January 29, 2010

Would You Like to Buy It?


Total length of bridge, including the part on land: 5,989 feet 
Total height of the bridge towers above water: 276 feet and 6 inches 
Height of bridge towers below water: 44 feet 6 inches on the Brooklyn side, 
78 feet 6 inches on the New York side. 
Total strength of bridge cables: approx. 98,488 tons 
Actual weight on bridge cables: approx. 12,000 tons 
Thickness of bridge cables: 15 and 3/4 inches
Total weight of the bridge: approx.14,680 tons 
Conclusion: The Brooklyn Bridge Weighs More than Me

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Shish, boom, bah!



The Spirit of Troy, also known as the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band (TMB), has over 300 members.

Given a variety of instruments ranging from a piccolo (1.5 pounds) to a Tuba (25 pounds)
Estimated instrument weight: 3900 lbs.
Estimated instrumentalist weight: 45,000 lbs.

Estimated Combined Weight (excluding cases and tour busses): 48,900

Conclusion: The TMB weighs more than me.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Boom!




Weights of Typical American Tanks:

1. 6 tons WW1 M1917 Renault Tank
2. 30 tons WW2 M-4 Sherman Tank
3. 52 tons Vietnam War M-48 Patton Tank (Vietnam War: 17 tons M-551 Sheridan Light Tank)
4. 67 tons M-1 Abrams Tank

Conclusion: Even a Renault Tank weighs more than me.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Here come's the...



The rain has finally stopped and we got some of that glorious CA sunshine this morning.  It got me thinking about the size of that bad boy...

Specs:

Diameter: about 865,000 miles (about 109 x earth)

Mass: (equal to 99.86% of the mass of the Solar System)

1.9891×1030 kg or 332,900 × Earth

Conclusion: The sun weighs more than me.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Baby, it's cold outside!



Growing up, we always heated our house in Wisconsin with firewood.  We often gathered the wood from trees that were knocked over anyways during construction of new housing projects.  It takes a lot of wood to heat a house in the northern midwest in January.

A "cord" of firewood is 8 ft. long, 4 ft. wide and 4 ft. high.
It takes the young teenager equivalent of "forever" to cut, split and stack that much wood.
A cord of dried white oak weighs 4890 - 6290 pounds wet, but will dry to 2880 - 3710 pounds

Conclusion: wet or dry a cord of oak weighs more than me.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Rain, rain, go away...



We are getting dumped on here in usually sunny California.  So much so, I thought about getting one of these rain barrels.

Capacity: 50 Gallons
Weight of Barrel: 16 pounds
Weight 1 Gallon of Water: 8.35 pounds
Weight of Barrel full of Rain: 433.5 pounds
Conclusion: A Barrel full of Rain Weighs More Than Me

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Beep, Beep.



This smart car is one of the lightest cars built.  It can even park perpendicular to the curb in a standard parallel parking spot.  But even this car weighs over 1600 lbs.

Conclusion: A smart car weighs more than me.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Winner by a Yard



Object: 1 Cubic Yard of Concrete
Weight: 3300 lbs.
Conclusion: A Cubic Yard of Concrete weighs more than me.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Thats alota sauce-a

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Although I sometimes think I could eat the biggest pizza in the world all by myself, the truth is, I probably couldn't.

The largest pizza ever baked (according to The Guiness Book of World Records):
  • Was made in South Africa on December 8, 1990.
  • Measured 37.4 meters in diameter (over 120 feet).
  • Contained  500 kg of flour (over 1100 pounds), 800 kg of cheese (over 1700 pounds) and 900 kg of tomato puree (over 1900 pounds).
  •  Weighed over 5000 pounds.
Conclusion: The world's largest pizza weighs more than me.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Sometimes, heavy helps



Object: Cargo of a Red Cross Plane bound for Haiti
Reason: Delivering food, medicines and supplies to an area ravaged by an earthquake
Cargo Weight: Over 40 tons

Conclusion: Sometimes being heavy can help a lot.

Friday, January 15, 2010

One a day, keeps the doctor away



There are more than 7,000 varieties of apples grown in the world.
The apples from one tree can fill 20 boxes every year.
Each box weighs an average 42 pounds.
So one tree can produce 840 pounds of apples
Conclusion: The apples from one tree may weigh more than me.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Big as a House...



How big is the Average American House?

The Formula:  
The basic ratio of square footage to weight for a home is 2000 pounds or 1 ton per square foot of floor space. This estimate takes into consideration the contents within the floor space but does not include the weight of the foundation. All you need to do is multiply the square footage by 1 ton.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, the average home size in the United States was 2,330 square feet in 2004, up from 1,400 square feet in 1970.

So the average American home weighs about 2,330 tons.

Conclusion:  The Average American home weighs more than me.

Whoosh...



Object: Windmill Tower outside of Palm Springs, CA
Height: Up to 300 ft.
Weight: The compartments at the top containing the generator, hub and gearbox weigh 30,000 to 45,000 pounds.

Conclusion: A Palm Springs Windmill weighs more than me.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Tinkling the Ivories...



Steinway Model D Grand Piano
Introduced in: 1884
Available in: Mahogany, Walnut, Rosewood & Ebony
Length: 8' 10 3/4''
Width: 4' 6''
Weight: 990 lbs 

Conclusion: A Steinway Model D Grand Piano weighs more than me.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Vrooom, vroom



Hummer H1 Alpha
Curb weight: 7847 pounds
Conclusion: A Hummer weighs more than me.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Brrrrr....



There are several grades of ice that can be used for sculpture. 
Crystal clear ice is made with more water circulating during the process and better quality water.
A large ice sculpture can range anywhere from 6 to 30 feet tall.
Large ice sculptures can weigh anywhere from 500 to 50,000 pounds.

Conclusion:  A large ice sculpture weighs more than me.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Tour Eiffel



Mais Oui.  C'est grande!



She's a big one:

2.5 million rivets

40 tons of paint

Total Height: 1052 feet, 4 inches

Total tower weight 9441 tons

Conclusion: The Eiffel Tower weighs more than me.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Construction Deconstruction


More common in Las Vegas than surefire tips for winning at blackjack and polyester pants is the construction crane.

Statistics:
Maximum Unsupported Height: 265 feet
Maximum Lifting Power: 19.5 tons
Weight: Over 22 tons

Conclusion:  A Construction tower crane weighs more than me.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

That's cold, man.



Object: Sub Zero Side By Side Refrigerator
Dimensions: 36 inches wide, by 7 ft. tall by 27 inches deep
Weight: 492 pounds
Conclusion: Even empty, a Sub Zero Fridge weighs more than me.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

And he Never Forgets, Either

 
The African Elephant 
 

--Male elephants are usually about 20 ft/6.1m long
--In one year an elephant can drink 15,000 gal/57,000 liters of water
--A male african elephant may need to consume over 70,158 calories a day in vegetation.
--Female gestation (length of pregnancy) in elephants is 22 months - almost 2 years
--African elephants weigh 198-264 pounds (90 to 120 kilograms) at BIRTH.
--African elephants can reach over 15,000  pounds in weight.

Conclusion: The African Elephant weighs more than me.

Monday, January 4, 2010

The St. Louis Arch



 

The St. Louis Arch is also called the Gateway to the West.

You can take a ride up to the top in a funky little elevator which like in Douglas Adams moves both up and down and sideways.

Stats:
Height: 630 Ft.
Total Steel Weight: 5199 Tons

Conclusion: The St. Louis Arch weighs more than me.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

An NFL Offensive Line


The Offensive Line of an NFL football team consists of four positions--center, guard, tackle and tight end.

The average NFL Offensive lineman is 6' 4" tall and weighs 300 lbs.

The average weight of an NFL Offensive Line is 1200 lbs.

Conclusion: at least the average NFL Offensive Line weighs more than me.

Friday, January 1, 2010

2010 To Be the Biggest Year EVER!



The New York Times New Year's Ball

Statistics:

Size: 12 Foot Geodesic Sphere
Covered: In 2,668 Waterford Crystals and powered by 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDS
Weight: 11,875 pounds

Conclusion: New York Times New Years Ball weighs more than me.