Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.
Display:
How big would a pyramid made of 655 000 human skulls be?

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
by Starvid on Wed Oct 11th, 2006 at 12:27:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I asked myself the same question.  The working is here, but the short answer is "taller than the White House", and "enough to bury every floor of that building to a depth of 2.5m".

It's actually somewhat smaller than I thought - my initial comparison point was going to be the Washington Monument - but I guess skulls just aren't that big.

by IdiotSavant on Wed Oct 11th, 2006 at 04:43:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
My math is weak today, but I'll try some morbid counting anyway.

v= volume
h= height
a= area of the base
s= length of the base along the ground.

Okay, imagine an egyptian pyramid. Square base, four sides. The volume should be v=(h*a)/2

Let's then say that the height is the same as the side of the base so a=s*s and h=s gives v=(s*s*s)/2

From your link we know that 655 000 skulls have a volume of 13100 cubic metres. That gives 13100=(s*s*s)/2 which gives 26200=s*s*s which gives that, the square root of three of 26200=s

I think. But I have lost my calculator so somebody else have to calculate s.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.

by Starvid on Wed Oct 11th, 2006 at 06:03:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
A pyramid is ah/3, and if you don't want your pyramid to fall over because it is too steep, h should be s/2. So for a square-based pyramid, your equation is v = s^3 / 6, and h = 21.4 metres.
by IdiotSavant on Wed Oct 11th, 2006 at 06:41:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
yes, it was meant to be a pile....scrub the pools.

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Wed Oct 11th, 2006 at 06:53:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Oh my god what a stupid calculation I made. But I did warn you.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
by Starvid on Wed Oct 11th, 2006 at 06:59:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Ok, we are looking for a 13100 cubic metres pyramid. The Louvre Pyramid is 8412 cubic metres.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
by Starvid on Wed Oct 11th, 2006 at 07:09:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Display:

Occasional Series