Could This Factoid Possibly Be True?

[mawnansmiff]

Some years ago I read somewhere, that if you could get a gallon (it might even have been pint) of water and write your initials on every molecule of that water, then drink that water, after one year you could go to any body of water in the world, river, stream, lake, ocean etc, scoop out a gallon (or pint) of that water, you'd be guaranteed to find at least 1 molecule with your initials on it.

Now I'm no mathematician and my calculator only has 8 digits but I did find this on the web, which means absolutely nothing to me...unless the up arrow means 'to the power of'...

"therefore 1 gallon of water contains 1.265 x 10^26 molecules...".

What say you, fact or fiction?

Regards,

Jay.

 

[BarrelProof]

My brain already hurts, but I feel like it’s conjecture.

Stoichiometry was never my strong suit, so I won’t get into the math. I guess I’m just thinking that even though the figures in play are inconceivably large, there are far too many variables to make that possible and, I’d argue, a 1.265 x 10^-23 percent chance of being able to substantiate that claim.

 

[beefeater33]

I'd guess it true............... though I'm no mathematician either, but I did find this........... 1 DROP of water has 1.5 SEXTILLION molecules!

How Many Molecules Are in a Drop of Water?

Learn how to calculate the number of atoms and molecules in a drop of water with this explanation.

www.thoughtco.com

 

[Grangerous]

If I drank the pint, then enriched a nearby stream with nitrogen, would one of my signed molecules be present in “any” global body of water?

I say, No.

What have you been smokin?

 

[sablebrush52]

The short, and only intelligent answer to your question is it's possible. Doesn't mean it's probable, but possible, provided you can find a way to etch your initials permanently onto a molecule of water.

 

[prairiedruid]

Just think of the billions of dead peoples' farts you breathe in everyday.

 

[bassbug]

A very quick mathematical estimation would say, highly unlikely.

1 gallon of water represents an infinitesimally small percentage of all the water in the world. By logical extension, the number of molecules in 1 gallon also represent an infinitesimally small percentage of the total number of water molecules in the world.

 

[mingc]

My brain already hurts, but I feel like it’s conjecture.

Stoichiometry was never my strong suit, so I won’t get into the math. I guess I’m just thinking that even though the figures in play are inconceivably large, there are far too many variables to make that possible and, I’d argue, a 1.265 x 10^-23 percent chance of being able to substantiate that claim.

Not just stoichiometry, but also statistical distribution and probability. I'm not sure how to calculate @mawnansmiff's hypothetical.

I've also read that in every breath we take, there's at least a molecule that was in Caesar's last breath, which does not strike me as probable.

 

[Servant King]

Some years ago I read somewhere, that if you could get a gallon (it might even have been pint) of water and write your initials on every molecule of that water, then drink that water, after one year you could go to any body of water in the world, river, stream, lake, ocean etc, scoop out a gallon (or pint) of that water, you'd be guaranteed to find at least 1 molecule with your initials on it.

I would say that anyone who would even think about actually doing this probably has far too much time on their hands.

Just think of the billions of dead peoples' farts you breathe in everyday.

Living peoples' too. Where's my clothespin?

 

[Briar Lee]

The Oklahoman
February 4, 2019

Perhaps you’ve heard this before: There are more stars in the universe than all the grains of sand in all the beaches, desserts and sandboxes on Earth.

There are a lot of sand grains on Earth. Sand constitutes a major fraction of the makeup of Earth.

Scientists estimate the number by measuring the average size of a sand grains, then calculating how many sand grains it would take to fill, say, a gallon jug. Using the latest geological studies, they calculate the total volume of sand on Earth. Scientists estimate that Earth contains 7.5 sextillion sand grains. That is 75 followed by 17 zeros. That’s a lot of sand.

Astronomers calculate the total number of stars in the universe by studying nearby galaxies, ones in which we can count the stars, to see how many it takes to make a galaxy shine. Then, based on detailed counts of galaxies we can see, and making conservative estimates of how many we can’t see, they estimate the total number of stars in the universe. Our universe contains at least 70 septillion stars, 7 followed by 23 zeros.

—-

There are two possibilities for the nearly infinite amount of stuff, in the universe.

It was a big accident.

Or somebody must have been very bored.

 

[mso489]

I am not a mathematical thinker, so that's my disclaimer. I am disinclined to accept this premise. If it is numerically possible that molecules of water would be sufficient in number to be that uniformly and widely disbursed -- and I doubt that intuitively -- the idea that the molecules would be so evenly and widely distributed seems entirely improbable.

The clincher is my disbelief is the one-year deadline for this dispersion. I think most of the entire bucket would be stuck in some aquifer, glacier, or swamp bottom (etc.) and wouldn't be going anywhere for a century or so, and then with no especially wide dispersion. That's my perception of how the world works. I don't know if the number of molecules would be enough. I don't think the numbers would suffice.

 

[warren]

Of what practical value is this "knowledge"? Asking for a friend. Too much time indeed! Was this research paid for through a government grant?

 

[olkofri]

I would say that anyone who would even think about actually doing this probably has far too much time on their hands.

Well, these kind of questions sometimes appear in textbooks as exercises.

I recall one such question in my chemistry course involving Avogadro's last breath and how many molecules of CO2 from it were still around, or some such thing.

 

[kcghost]

Very, very improbable but that's why you pay your money.

 

[BarrelProof]

I took a population dynamics course and we had to read this article about exponential human growth and how far our population could (theoretically) grow at this rate. I forget the study, but it referenced a group of scientists who had attempted to calculate the number of atoms in the universe. The idea was that if every single atom in the known universe was allocated to being a human, a defined limit could be obtained.

Silly, but thought provoking in its own right.

 

[BarrelProof]

Not just stoichiometry, but also statistical distribution and probability. I'm not sure how to calculate @mawnansmiff's hypothetical.

I've also read that in every breath we take, there's at least a molecule that was in Caesar's last breath, which does not strike me as probable.

Entirely. A quick Google showed 352 quintillion gallons of water in just the oceans combined. Add your gallon of water and the odds are still astronomically small that you’d actually scoop a gallon that contained one, and that’s assuming an even distribution throughout.

I know my gallon would make its way to wherever the salmon are, so I’d be screwed.

 

[Streeper541]

Some years ago I read somewhere, that if you could get a gallon (it might even have been pint) of water and write your initials on every molecule of that water, then drink that water, after one year you could go to any body of water in the world, river, stream, lake, ocean etc, scoop out a gallon (or pint) of that water, you'd be guaranteed to find at least 1 molecule with your initials on it.

Now I'm no mathematician and my calculator only has 8 digits but I did find this on the web, which means absolutely nothing to me...unless the up arrow means 'to the power of'...

"therefore 1 gallon of water contains 1.265 x 10^26 molecules...".

What say you, fact or fiction?

Regards,

Jay.

I don't know what blend your smoking Jay, but I want some of it.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

What nobody has brought up is this means we've all drunk @mawnansmiff 's piss at some point.

 

[bullet08]

Nope. If you piss on the street of NYC, maybe. If you go to a mountain and piss there, also maybe. But if you go to 3 rd floor of an apartment that I used to leave and piss on the carpet next to that mean asshole who used to yell at kids for no reason? i don't think so

 

[georged]

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