Question of the day

CatmanV2

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48,547
But he was happy to let that one child down :omg:

It's disgraceful, I know. But in the tradition of good Christmas stories everywhere, he came right in the end :D

Back to the question

Back of a napkin calculation: Circumference of the earth is roughly 40k km. Assumed width of sleigh is 2m. If he has to cover the entire surface of the earth, that puts him at something like 1.6*10^6 km/h

Or maybe not

C
 

zagatoes30

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20,759
It's disgraceful, I know. But in the tradition of good Christmas stories everywhere, he came right in the end :D

Back to the question

Back of a napkin calculation: Circumference of the earth is roughly 40k km. Assumed width of sleigh is 2m. If he has to cover the entire surface of the earth, that puts him at something like 1.6*10^6 km/h

Or maybe not

C

Maths was never my subject, I will take a speed in Miles or KM per hour or second - don't forget he has to criss cross the world to cover all the children
 

CatmanV2

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48,547
Maths was never my subject, I will take a speed in Miles or KM per hour or second - don't forget he has to criss cross the world to cover all the children

He doesn't have to. He can simply go round and round like a ribbon. Not the most efficient.

so 1600000 km-h

C
 

zagatoes30

Member
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20,759
Maybe some data will help you make the calculation

1. There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear to) handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to Population Reference Bureau.
2. At an average (census)rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes.
3. One presumes there's at least one good child in each - Obviously this may not be correct for SM families if the parents are anything to go by ;)
4. Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west(which seems logical).
5. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,547
Maybe some data will help you make the calculation

1. There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear to) handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to Population Reference Bureau.
2. At an average (census)rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes.
3. One presumes there's at least one good child in each - Obviously this may not be correct for SM families if the parents are anything to go by ;)
4. Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west(which seems logical).
5. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household

Meh. Simple now

C
 

zagatoes30

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20,759
To save Catman doing the sums, it is estimated that Santa will have to reach speeds of up to 650 miles per second to complete his rounds.

SO over to you Catman for the next challenge ;)
 

CatmanV2

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48,547
Hmmm :)

OK, continuing the seasonal trivia: Most of us know and sing (at a guess) Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve. However it is sung rather more frequently by a specific organisation.

Name that organisation. Clues throughout the day if anyone is still playing :)

C
 

zagatoes30

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20,759
More frequent? The TUC sing it at the end of their conferences but that would generally be yearly as well.

Will have to wait for some more clues as nothing is coming to mind at the moment
 

midlifecrisis

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16,102
the TUC is probably as good shout, they also sing 'Oh Christmas tree'...or is it the 'Keep the red flag flying' high?

Anyway who knows the words to Auld Lang Syne?
 

JonW

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3,259
Hmmm :)

OK, continuing the seasonal trivia: Most of us know and sing (at a guess) Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve. However it is sung rather more frequently by a specific organisation.

Name that organisation. Clues throughout the day if anyone is still playing :)

C

A little known fact is that in Japan (and Taiwan) this is played over the PA / tannoy of shops to tell people the shop is closing!

Closer to home, I think the Armed Forces May use it in various passing out ceremonies...
 

CatmanV2

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48,547
A little known fact is that in Japan (and Taiwan) this is played over the PA / tannoy of shops to tell people the shop is closing!

Closer to home, I think the Armed Forces May use it in various passing out ceremonies...

Certainly the Japanese thing is true :) No idea about the armed forces.

We are talking about a quasi-military organisation, but not that close to home ;)

C
 

midlifecrisis

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16,102
Certainly the Japanese thing is true :) No idea about the armed forces.

We are talking about a quasi-military organisation, but not that close to home ;)

C

If it's military I would have thought about a Scottish regiment, if it's quasi military would it be the Women's institute? They kick off with Jerusalem so do they finish off with Auld Lang Syne? The other one I'm thinking of is the WRVS, Women's ROyal Voluntary Service, they make nice cake at Mount pleasant Airport in the Falkland Islands...