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Mt. Frank
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Mt. Frank
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PostTue Mar 11, 2003 6:52 am 
Isn't it strange that we huff and puff and fight gravity for hours to get to the top of a mountain, yet taken at the same scale, the earth is smoother than a billiard ball?

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roughing it
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roughing it
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PostSat Mar 15, 2003 3:47 pm 
The earth may be smoother than a billiard ball on one scale, but on the scale I hike I feel every pebble and twig, and to gain the peak I must traverse each valley in the mean. huh.gif frown.gif rant.gif down.gif shakehead.gif bawl.gif wazzup.gif

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catwoman
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PostSat Mar 15, 2003 5:29 pm 
Where do you get that?

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roughing it
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PostSat Mar 15, 2003 7:53 pm 
Actually I think it was my old hiking boots that made me feel that way. My new boots cruise over everything and hiking a trail now is like a hot knife through butter.

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catwoman
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PostSat Mar 15, 2003 11:15 pm 
My question was directed to Mt Frank.

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Mt. Frank
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PostSun Mar 16, 2003 11:11 am 
Do the math. Mt. Everest ~29,000 feet, diameter of the planet ~8,000 MILES.

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catwoman
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PostSun Mar 16, 2003 6:10 pm 
what math and for what?

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Rich Baldwin
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PostTue Mar 18, 2003 8:59 pm 
OK, I did the math. Using Mt. Frank's numbers, Everest represents a .07% variation in the diameter of the planet, or .14% of the mean spherical radious. If the earth were a billiard ball (roughly 2 inch diameter), the variation would be about 1.4 mils, which is pretty rough finish for a billiard ball.

Was you ever bit by a dead bee?
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Stefan
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PostWed Mar 19, 2003 11:31 am 
Rich Baldwin wrote:
OK, I did the math. Using Mt. Frank's numbers, Everest represents a .07% variation in the diameter of the planet, or .14% of the mean spherical radious. If the earth were a billiard ball (roughly 2 inch diameter), the variation would be about 1.4 mils, which is pretty rough finish for a billiard ball.
Does that take into consideration if the oceans were void of water?

Art is an adventure.
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Mt. Frank
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PostWed Mar 19, 2003 3:20 pm 
Thanks Rich - My calculations came out to .0017" on a 2.50" ball. I believe the manufacturing limits for something like a billiard ball is about +/- .002". And no, I did not drain the oceans.

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polarbear-
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PostWed Mar 19, 2003 9:11 pm 
I was playing billiards last night, and most of the balls were going way off course. Is that due to the .0017" or something else? It seems like the white ball is worse than the other balls.

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Rich Baldwin
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PostThu Mar 20, 2003 12:37 am 
Geek explanation: +/- .002 is probably the fabrication tolerance on the diameter, not the surface finish. It might also apply to the sphericity (max. diameter to min. diameter - the ball won't be perfectly spherical). Surface roughness would be specified in microinches, not mils.

Was you ever bit by a dead bee?
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