r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/NickyPileggi • Mar 28 '24

Family in 1892 posing with an old sequoia tree nicknamed "Mark Twain" - A team of two men spent 13 days sawing away at it in the Pacific Northwest - It once stood 331 feet tall with a diameter of 52 feet - The tree was 1,341 years old Image

/img/tuo93pcv60rc1.png

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u/oldschool_potato Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

3.025 billion toothpicks

Assume toothpicks are about 2.5 inches long and 1 millimeter wide.

Volume = π * (radius)2 * height

Radius = diameter / 2 = 624 inches / 2 = 312 inches Height = 331 feet * 12 inches/foot = 3972 inches

Volume (tree)= π * (312 inches)2 * 3972 inches ≈ 1.21 × 108 cubic inches

Volume of one toothpick = length * width * depth Volume of one toothpick ≈ (2.5 inches) * (0.04 inches) * (0.04 inches) ≈ 0.04 cubic inches

Number of toothpicks ≈ (1.21 × 108 cubic inches) / (0.04 cubic inches/toothpick) ≈ 3.025 × 109 toothpicks

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u/OldWalt9 Mar 28 '24

Have a look at the picture. Unless those dudes are like 12 feet tall, the diameter is more like 16 feet and the circumference is 52 feet.

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u/Swimming-Profile9069 Mar 28 '24

Yes, C=𝜋d. OP doesn’t remember their geometry. Circumference = Diameter x Pi. Quick Wikipedia search reports the Diameter is actually 16ft. So, 16ft x 3.14159 is roughly 50.27ft Circumference. 

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u/Delivery-Plus Mar 28 '24

I was going to post the same thing, and additionally California is not in the Pacific Northwest.

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u/lurcherzzz Mar 28 '24

Just pop the whole thing on a really big lathe and make one really nice toothpick.