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The issue with the a "tree's worth of oxygen" is that in people's mind a tree is very big, so this comparison gives the impression of a very large amount of oxy

The issue with the a "tree's worth of oxygen" is that in people's mind a tree is very big, so this comparison gives the impression of a very large amount of oxygen is being produced, when, in fact, barely any is produced at all. A better analogy would be anything that can be expressed in volumes. For this reason, "4 football stadiums" and "2 school buses" would actually be pretty good.

TomVDB 4y ago
How many giraffes is that?
withinboredom 4y ago
I’m looking at a tree right now. It is not very big.
- revolvingocelot 4y ago
  On the Internet, nobody knows you're 14 feet tall
  - withinboredom 4y ago
    Nope, just a baby tree.
robofanatic 4y ago
a banana maybe? I mean does a tree produce 1 banana worth of oxygen?
- throwaway09223 4y ago
  By mass or by volume? Or by economic value?
  - leokennis 4y ago
    No I meant by itself
    - marcosdumay 4y ago
      Well, it's arguably (and it's argued; a lot) if the thing that produced bananas is a tree or not. Anyway, most trees can't.
    - drdeca 4y ago
      As in, the number of oxygen atoms in the banana?
- cal5k 4y ago
  Hey now, don't be ridiculous... ...it's a rate, it would be bananas/hr.
  - kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
    Metric or imperial?
    - arcticbull 4y ago
      Cavendish banana
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
elcomet 4y ago
I think a better measurement would be something like "Enough breathable air for x people"... At least it instantly gives the information of how many machine you need to sustain x people.
- phire 4y ago
  Yes... I ran the calculations, 6 grams an hour seems to be about 15% of a single astronaut's oxygen consumption. The planned larger machine they talk about, about the size of a chest freezer producing 3 kilograms of oxygen an hour, should be enough for ~85 astronauts. Though I assume that's also needing to produce rocket oxidiser for the return trip.
  - 22c 4y ago
    There was a guy who sealed himself in a "greenhouse" full of trees, he was trying to produce as much oxygen as he consumed, as well as scrub as much CO2 as he exhaled. It turned out he still didn't have enough oxygen/CO2 scrubbing, but it was enough to slow down his asphyxiation for a couple days or so. Unfortunately I can't find the YouTube video at the moment, but based on that video, I don't even think "10 trees worth of oxygen" is enough for an Astronaut.
    - a1445c8b 4y ago
      10 trees worth would be 150% of an astronaut’s consumption though, no?
      - 22c 4y ago
        No, I don't think so. The numbers people throw around are generally not accurate as was discovered by that experimenter. So in general it should probably be avoided to describe oxygen production/consumption in terms of "trees worth", especially when it doesn't really account for any carbon dioxide scrubbing, either.
    - phire 4y ago
      But he probably isn't the only oxygen consumer in the greenhouse. There will most likely be insects, bacteria, fungi; All which also consume oxygen. On top of organic things, the Earth2 experiment famously ran into a problem where the concrete they used to build the biosphere kept curing long after construction finished, and kept sucking oxygen out of the atmosphere. And don't forget to take into account that NASA's machine can produce oxygen all day, everyday, where trees stop producing oxygen at night, and over winter (and actually start consuming oxygen)
AmericanChopper 4y ago
Yeah I have no idea how much oxygen a tree makes. How many trees would be needed to keep me alive in a sealed room? How big would they have to be? I have no idea…
- Phrenzy 4y ago
  Maybe this will help: https://oxygennotincluded.fandom.com/wiki/Guide/Oxygen https://oxygennotincluded.fandom.com/wiki/Guide/Oxygen
Consultant32452 4y ago
You are missing the biggest part of this. It doesn't matter if it's a lot of oxygen or a little bit. Because it's marketing to people who don't know and don't care exactly how much oxygen a single tree makes. It's just supposed to sound "neat" to normal people who vote and got a C in high school bio.

TomVDB 4y ago

How many giraffes is that?

withinboredom 4y ago

I’m looking at a tree right now. It is not very big.

revolvingocelot 4y ago
On the Internet, nobody knows you're 14 feet tall
- withinboredom 4y ago
  Nope, just a baby tree.

robofanatic 4y ago

a banana maybe? I mean does a tree produce 1 banana worth of oxygen?

throwaway09223 4y ago
By mass or by volume? Or by economic value?
- leokennis 4y ago
  No I meant by itself
  - marcosdumay 4y ago
    Well, it's arguably (and it's argued; a lot) if the thing that produced bananas is a tree or not. Anyway, most trees can't.
  - drdeca 4y ago
    As in, the number of oxygen atoms in the banana?
cal5k 4y ago
Hey now, don't be ridiculous... ...it's a rate, it would be bananas/hr.
- kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
  Metric or imperial?
  - arcticbull 4y ago
    Cavendish banana

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

elcomet 4y ago

I think a better measurement would be something like "Enough breathable air for x people"... At least it instantly gives the information of how many machine you need to sustain x people.

phire 4y ago
Yes... I ran the calculations, 6 grams an hour seems to be about 15% of a single astronaut's oxygen consumption. The planned larger machine they talk about, about the size of a chest freezer producing 3 kilograms of oxygen an hour, should be enough for ~85 astronauts. Though I assume that's also needing to produce rocket oxidiser for the return trip.
- 22c 4y ago
  There was a guy who sealed himself in a "greenhouse" full of trees, he was trying to produce as much oxygen as he consumed, as well as scrub as much CO2 as he exhaled. It turned out he still didn't have enough oxygen/CO2 scrubbing, but it was enough to slow down his asphyxiation for a couple days or so. Unfortunately I can't find the YouTube video at the moment, but based on that video, I don't even think "10 trees worth of oxygen" is enough for an Astronaut.
  - a1445c8b 4y ago
    10 trees worth would be 150% of an astronaut’s consumption though, no?
    - 22c 4y ago
      No, I don't think so. The numbers people throw around are generally not accurate as was discovered by that experimenter. So in general it should probably be avoided to describe oxygen production/consumption in terms of "trees worth", especially when it doesn't really account for any carbon dioxide scrubbing, either.
  - phire 4y ago
    But he probably isn't the only oxygen consumer in the greenhouse. There will most likely be insects, bacteria, fungi; All which also consume oxygen. On top of organic things, the Earth2 experiment famously ran into a problem where the concrete they used to build the biosphere kept curing long after construction finished, and kept sucking oxygen out of the atmosphere. And don't forget to take into account that NASA's machine can produce oxygen all day, everyday, where trees stop producing oxygen at night, and over winter (and actually start consuming oxygen)

AmericanChopper 4y ago

Yeah I have no idea how much oxygen a tree makes. How many trees would be needed to keep me alive in a sealed room? How big would they have to be? I have no idea…

Phrenzy 4y ago
Maybe this will help: https://oxygennotincluded.fandom.com/wiki/Guide/Oxygen https://oxygennotincluded.fandom.com/wiki/Guide/Oxygen

Consultant32452 4y ago

You are missing the biggest part of this. It doesn't matter if it's a lot of oxygen or a little bit. Because it's marketing to people who don't know and don't care exactly how much oxygen a single tree makes. It's just supposed to sound "neat" to normal people who vote and got a C in high school bio.