3 ms·

Glad you like it! It's my first ever post to HN. I've been reading it daily since forever. Had to create an account to post. I did the shuttle in a rush TBH. I

Glad you like it! It's my first ever post to HN. I've been reading it daily since forever. Had to create an account to post. I did the shuttle in a rush TBH. I have no idea if that's with the main tank and boosters or not! No way, I had the Airfix kit of the shuttle+747 combo when I was a kid. poof mind blown. I haven't really had time to recheck all the values. If there are any chemists here who can help with the weight of a caffeine molecule (in kg) then I'd appreciate it!! Someone posted on HN a few days ago about always including your units in the variable names. Good advice.

robocat 5y ago
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=molecular+weight+caffeine https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=molecular+weight+caffeine “Caffeine/Molar mass 194.19 g/mol”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_(unit) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_(unit) “The mole is defined as exactly 6.02214076×10²³ elementary entities”. 194.19 / 6.02214076e23 calculates one molecule is about 3.2246008e-22 g ~322 yoctogrammes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix “The Space Shuttle weighed 165,000 pounds empty. Its external tank weighed 78,100 pounds empty and its two solid rocket boosters weighed 185,000 pounds empty each. Each solid rocket booster held 1.1 million pounds of fuel. The external tank held 143,000 gallons of liquid oxygen (1,359,000 pounds) and 383,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen (226,000 pounds). The fuel weighed almost 20 times more than the Shuttle. At launch, the Shuttle, external tank, solid rocket boosters and all the fuel combined had a total weight of 4.4 million pounds. The Shuttle could also carry a 65,000 payload.” Edit: that’s approximately 3e-25 kg per Caffiene molecule and I’m not a chemist, but I do enjoy captivating books about chemists/chemistry like Ignition[1], PiHKAL[2], Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks[3]. Edit 2: From above I noticed 1 litre of liquid Hydrogen is unexpectedly light at 0.15604 kg and one litre of liquid Oxygen is similarly heavier at 2.517 kg - I hope you find more things to add that challenge our intuitions. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29006010 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29006010 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30827112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30827112 [3] https://www.chemistryworld.com/review/uncle-tungsten-memories-of-a-chemical-boyhood/4012837.article https://www.chemistryworld.com/review/uncle-tungsten-memorie...
- last_one_in 5y ago
  No way! I got the weight of a caffeine molecule right! I am so proud of myself right now. Thanks! I've got water as 3e-26 but that doesn't seem right. Water molecule x10 lighter than caffeine molecule? "The fuel weighed almost 20 times more than the Shuttle" - makes me want to go play KSP. Yep, I think I've got the fully loaded shuttle + external tank + boosters weight. Thanks a lot!

robocat 5y ago

https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=molecular+weight+caffeine https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=molecular+weight+caffeine “Caffeine/Molar mass 194.19 g/mol”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_(unit) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_(unit) “The mole is defined as exactly 6.02214076×10²³ elementary entities”. 194.19 / 6.02214076e23 calculates one molecule is about 3.2246008e-22 g ~322 yoctogrammes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix “The Space Shuttle weighed 165,000 pounds empty. Its external tank weighed 78,100 pounds empty and its two solid rocket boosters weighed 185,000 pounds empty each. Each solid rocket booster held 1.1 million pounds of fuel. The external tank held 143,000 gallons of liquid oxygen (1,359,000 pounds) and 383,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen (226,000 pounds). The fuel weighed almost 20 times more than the Shuttle. At launch, the Shuttle, external tank, solid rocket boosters and all the fuel combined had a total weight of 4.4 million pounds. The Shuttle could also carry a 65,000 payload.” Edit: that’s approximately 3e-25 kg per Caffiene molecule and I’m not a chemist, but I do enjoy captivating books about chemists/chemistry like Ignition[1], PiHKAL[2], Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks[3]. Edit 2: From above I noticed 1 litre of liquid Hydrogen is unexpectedly light at 0.15604 kg and one litre of liquid Oxygen is similarly heavier at 2.517 kg - I hope you find more things to add that challenge our intuitions. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29006010 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29006010 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30827112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30827112 [3] https://www.chemistryworld.com/review/uncle-tungsten-memories-of-a-chemical-boyhood/4012837.article https://www.chemistryworld.com/review/uncle-tungsten-memorie...

last_one_in 5y ago
No way! I got the weight of a caffeine molecule right! I am so proud of myself right now. Thanks! I've got water as 3e-26 but that doesn't seem right. Water molecule x10 lighter than caffeine molecule? "The fuel weighed almost 20 times more than the Shuttle" - makes me want to go play KSP. Yep, I think I've got the fully loaded shuttle + external tank + boosters weight. Thanks a lot!