At least one question has its figures wrong. It asks which is heavier, Space Shuttle or 747, and goes on to say that the Shuttle weighs 2 million kg. But that is not just the shuttle: “The stack, as the composite of orbiter, tank and boosters is called, has a gross liftoff weight of 2000 tonnes” (which I presume includes liftoff weight of fuel as well).
Fun! Thank you, last_one_in. @last_one_in, it was not obvious to me at first that you were the author - adding that to some comments would have helped me!
Glad you like it! It's my first ever post to HN. I've been reading it daily since forever. Had to create an account to post.
I did the shuttle in a rush TBH. I have no idea if that's with the main tank and boosters or not!
No way, I had the Airfix kit of the shuttle+747 combo when I was a kid. poof mind blown.
I haven't really had time to recheck all the values. If there are any chemists here who can help with the weight of a caffeine molecule (in kg) then I'd appreciate it!!
Someone posted on HN a few days ago about always including your units in the variable names. Good advice.
“The Space Shuttle weighed 165,000 pounds empty. Its external tank weighed 78,100 pounds empty and its two solid rocket boosters weighed 185,000 pounds empty each. Each solid rocket booster held 1.1 million pounds of fuel. The external tank held 143,000 gallons of liquid oxygen (1,359,000 pounds) and 383,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen (226,000 pounds). The fuel weighed almost 20 times more than the Shuttle. At launch, the Shuttle, external tank, solid rocket boosters and all the fuel combined had a total weight of 4.4 million pounds. The Shuttle could also carry a 65,000 payload.”
Edit: that’s approximately 3e-25 kg per Caffiene molecule and I’m not a chemist, but I do enjoy captivating books about chemists/chemistry like Ignition[1], PiHKAL[2], Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks[3].
Edit 2: From above I noticed 1 litre of liquid Hydrogen is unexpectedly light at 0.15604 kg and one litre of liquid Oxygen is similarly heavier at 2.517 kg - I hope you find more things to add that challenge our intuitions.
No way! I got the weight of a caffeine molecule right! I am so proud of myself right now. Thanks! I've got water as 3e-26 but that doesn't seem right. Water molecule x10 lighter than caffeine molecule?
"The fuel weighed almost 20 times more than the Shuttle" - makes me want to go play KSP.
Yep, I think I've got the fully loaded shuttle + external tank + boosters weight.
Edit: perhaps it was just luck that it compared a 747 with the Space Shuttle, since that is something we know how to compare due to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Carrier_Aircraft
Fun! Thank you, last_one_in. @last_one_in, it was not obvious to me at first that you were the author - adding that to some comments would have helped me!