Things I Learned This Summer (2003)
(and will use to develop problems for my class)
by David Pleacher
Kenecott's Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah is over 3/4 mile deep and covers
1900 acres. It is 2 1/2 miles across at the top. It is one
of the two most visible man-made items from outer space (the other
is the Great Wall of China). Approximately 450,000 tons of material
are removed daily (1/3 is copper ore, 2/3 is waste).
The average interval between eruptions of "Old Faithful" is 94 minutes.
An eruption lasts 1.5 to 5 minutes.
It expels 3,700 - 8,400 gallons of boiling water.
Castle Geyser at Yellowstone National Park erupts every 12 hours and reaches
a height of 75 feet while Cliff
Geyser erupts every 35 minutes and reaches a height of 25 - 33 feet.
Wyoming ranks 50th in population but 7th in area among the states.
A record hailstone crashed in Nebraska on June 22, 2003.
It was 7 inches in diameter and 18.75 inches in circumference.
The previous record-holder was 5.7 inches in diameter and 15.5 inches
in circumference.
The Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City has an elliptical ceiling which
allows you to hear a pin drop from 175 feet away.
The Tabernacle is 250 feet long, 150 feet wide, and 80 feet high.
The organ in the Tabernacle has 11,623 pipes ranging in length from
3/4 inch to 32 feet!
The Great Salt Lake contains over 2 billion tons of salt.
Each year 2 million tons of salt is extracted from the lake.
At Olympic Park, the luge ride can reach speeds of 95 mph.
A buffalo can run three times as fast as a human.
The Greyhound is the fastest dog in the world and can achieve speeds
of 40 miles per hour.
The deepest known place in the world is Mariana Trench in the western
Pacific Ocean. It is 36,198 feet below sea level.
71% of all the land of Earth is north of the equator.
Fewer people live in the country of Western Sahara in Africa
than in any other country in the world.
Monaco is the most crowded country in the world.
It has 37,190 people per square mile.