f1freak 0 #1 December 3, 2002 There are approximately two billion children (persons under 18) in the world. However, since Santa does not visit children of Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, or Buddhist (except maybe in Japan) religions, this reduces the workload for Christmas night to 15% of the total, or 378 million (according to the population reference bureau). At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that comes to 108 million homes, presuming there is at least one good child in each. Santa has about 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 967.7 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with a good child, Santa has around 1/1000th of a second to park the sleigh, hop out, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left for him, get back up the chimney, jump into the sleigh and get onto the next house. Assuming that each of these 108 million stops is evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false, but will accept for the purposes of our calculations), we are not talking about 0.78 miles per household; a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting bathroom stops or breaks. This means Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second - 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a pokey 27.4 miles per second, and a conventional reindeer can run (at best) 15 miles per hour. The payload of the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium sized LEGO set (two pounds), the sleigh is carrying over 500 thousand tons, not counting Santa himself. On land, a conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that flying reindeer can pull 10 times the normal amount, the job can't be done with eight or even nine of them -Santa would need 360,000 of them. This increases the payload, not counting the weight of the sleigh, another 54,000 tons, or roughly seven times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth (the ship, not the monarch). A mass of nearly 600,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this would heat up the reindeer in the same fashion as a spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer would absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second each. In short, they would burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team would be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second, or right about the time Santa reaches the fifth house on his trip. Not that it matters, however, since Santa, as a result of accelerating from a dead stop to 650 m.p.s. in .001 seconds, would be subjected to acceleration forces of 17,000 g's. A 250 pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim considering all the high calorie snacks he must have consumed over the years) would be pinned to the back of the sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force, instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing him to a quivering blob of pink goo. Therefore, if Santa did exist, he's dead now. MERRY CHISTMAS!!!HAVE FUN... ...JUST DONT DIE Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lummy 4 #2 December 3, 2002 Quote Therefore, if Santa did exist, he's dead now. MERRY CHISTMAS!!! and here's the proofI promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. eat sushi, get smoochieTTK#1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blondeflyer7 0 #3 December 3, 2002 OMG....really?????...and all this time....I gotta make some calls Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sonic 0 #4 December 3, 2002 So who is leaving me presents then? ----------------------------------- It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #5 December 3, 2002 You forgot about something very important called .... MAGIC! It is a scientific fact that magic alters time, makes reindeer stronger and faster and reduces the weight of all those presents. Well, I guess that proves scientifically how wrong you are.Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blondeflyer7 0 #6 December 3, 2002 Quote and here's the proof ......awwwwwwwww....that makes me sad...all these years....waiting up Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mouth 0 #7 December 3, 2002 You just hurt my smile. -- Hot Mama At least you know where you stand even if it is in a pile of shit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faber 0 #8 December 3, 2002 You just turned my day off.. Now i have to buy pressents to my lovly girls,i thourgt the mony should go to my new gearMerry x-mas Stefan Faber Stay safe Stefan Faber Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #9 December 3, 2002 It was the French. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faber 0 #10 December 3, 2002 Thanks i just show them the pic.They under stand there will be no pressents any more,and ill get my gear. i owe you one Stay safe Stefan Faber Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rookeskydiver 0 #11 December 3, 2002 somebody has way to much freaken time in ther hands. pretty interesting though PCSS # 1 Rookeskydiver "Its a Wonka Bar"....."Go ahead Charlie open it, lets see that golden ticket" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflyz 0 #12 December 3, 2002 Reindeer are not very fast i ate them last year,Had the midnight muchies! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #13 December 3, 2002 I doubt it was the French. See how that guy is holding a gun and being victorious? That's not like the French at all, if it was really them, they would have handed Santa their weapon, surrendered and France would be run by a little fat guy in a red suit (it'd kinda be like old times for them)...--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faber 0 #14 December 3, 2002 i agree,it looks more like a eskimo.. Stay safe Stefan Faber Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skygod7777 0 #15 December 3, 2002 Quote somebody has way to much freaken time in ther hands. pretty interesting though i'll second that. i mean really, GO MAKE A JUMP or something!!!later Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faber 0 #16 December 3, 2002 Some times there are resons to pepole dossent jump...Who would else be the onse yoy read about.. Be Safe!!! Stefan Faber Stay safe Stefan Faber Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites