How Much Water for a Hamburger?

A hamburger takes 634 gallons (2400 liters) of water to make. That’s enough water to make more than six bathtubs overflow!

World Water Day promotional video claims a hamburger requires 634 gallons of water (0:50).How can a 1/3rd lb. (150 gram) hamburger patty, special sauce, lettuce, tomato all on a sesame-seed bun take so much water to produce, you ask? Since you can’t squeeze that much water out of your hamburger, it’s reasonable you should ask. Today is World Water Day, so I’m going to take a look at this question myself. Continue reading

Thinking About the Value of Pi

The number pi (π) is far more than just an esoteric button on calculator keypads, little used by everyday people on the street, and thought useful only to scientists accustomed to the Greek alphabet. March 14 (3/14) is Pi day, and a good day to remember a little of that grade school mathematics that plays such an important role in so much of the world around us. Have you ever wondered why does π have the value it does, 3.14159265…? Not a little bit more, or a little bit less?  In this Pi day adventure you will see for yourself with a little arithmetic, algebra and Euclidean geometry (of the sort learned in high school) just how π comes out to be the number it is. Continue reading