3 ms·
I don’t know the exact number, but came across a wild thought experiment a while ago that drove it home. Look at a big tree. There’s 3 things that could have go
by tonyarkles 6y ago
I don’t know the exact number, but came across a wild thought experiment a while ago that drove it home. Look at a big tree. There’s 3 things that could have gone into making it: water, air, and earth. If you look at the ground around it, there’s no hole where the tree grew. Sure, there’s the root system, but there’s nowhere near enough dirt missing to have made both the root system and the 50’ above-ground portion of the tree. That only leaves air and water.
- FredPret 6y agoThat’s a good one. Though it’s possible the soil is less dense around the roots due to mineral absorption. But I suppose the majority of the mass must come from water and carbon in the air.
- Pfhreak 6y agoFeynman on this exact question: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ifk6iuLQk28&feature=emb_title https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ifk6iuLQk28&feature=emb_title
- sitkack 5y agoI have seen 50+ foot tall trees growing directly out of ancient lava flows, nearly zero soil. From a cursory search, it looks like about 88% of the dry mass of a tree comes from the atmosphere (CO2 and H2O).