🚀 go-pugleaf

Patty,
Sorry this is so late, but just got back from vacation.  There are many
strange units, with an extreme of size in the area of radiation and nuclear
physics.  I think my favorite is the barn- 1x10^-24 cm^2  it is a measure of
nuclear capture cross section.  I have been told that the nucleus of uranium
presents such a large cross section to a thermal neutron that in jest it was
said to be as "big as a barn" hence the origin of the unit.  Along with
Cherrie's idea about the size a mole for bigness I have had students
approximate how long it would take MacDonalds to serve a moles worth of
stuff.  You need to find what their current "... ?billions served" number is
and how long they have been in business.  The answer is a real surprise to
most people.  How about the unit for radioactive activity-the Curie-
3.7x10^10 dis/sec ?  You live in a really neat part of the world, my
daughter is a senior at Western Carolina U. so I have visited your area
quite often. If I get any other ideas I'll send them on.

                   Fred Mina
--
Frederic T Mina   (fmina@llnj.ll.pbs.org) or (fmina@eden.rutgers.edu)
257 Mission Road                    West Morris Central HS  Physics Dept
Hackettstown, NJ 07840              Bartley Rd
908-852-5348                        Chester, NJ  07930   908-879-5212