Questions of Scale Something small I put together during a quiet covid-19 day. The aim of this quiz is not to elucidate exact answers but orders of magnitude. How long does it take light to travel from the sun to earth? 1 second 1 minute 8 minutes 10 minutes None How old is the universe? 3 billion years 13 billion years 130 billion years 1.3 trillion years None How old is planet earth? 45 million years old 450 million years old 4.5 billion years old 14.5 billion years old None How old are Homo Sapiens as a species? 20,000 years old 200,000 years old 2 million years old 20 million years old None What is the population of the UK? 10 million 30 million 65 million 95 million None What is the population of the earth in the year 2020? 1 billion 7 billion 17 billion 27 billion None What was the population of the earth in the year 1800? 500 million 1 billion 3 billion 5 billion None What is the radius of Greater London in KM? 10 KM 30 KM 70KM 120 KM None What is the radius of the earth in KM? 1,000 KM 6,000 KM 10,000 KM 25,000 KM None How many light years would it take a space ship travelling at the speed of light (an impossibility due to Special Relativity) to cross the Milky Way (our home galaxy)? 2 light years 20 light years 20,000 light years 0.2 million light years None How many genes in the human genome? 3,000 22,000 50,000 100,000 None What percentage of genes are identical between humans and chimps? 1 53 96 99.999 None What percentage of genes are identical between a humans and a banana? 0 1 10 60 None How many bytes are required to store a human genome on computer storage ? 1.5 KB 1.5 MB 1.5 GB 1.5 TB None What is the GDP of UK? 1 trillion USD 3 trillion USD 30 trillion USD 85 trillion USD None What is the GDP of the USA? 2 trillion 10 trillion 20 trillion 60 trillion None What percentage of global GDP does the USA account for? 5 % 15% 45% 65 % None How many KJ does an adult male burn each day in rest state? 870 KJ 8,700 KJ 87,000 KJ 870,000 KJ None 1 KG of body fat contains the equivalent of how many KJ? 10,000 KJ 40,000 KJ 100,000 KJ 250,000 KJ None How many KJ does a pint of beer contain? 100 KJ 500 KJ 1,000 KJ 2,000 KJ None How often does the human body replace every cell? 7 weeks 7 months 1.7 years 7 years None What percentage of the UK carries the HIV virus? 0.016% 0.16% 1.6% 16% None How many new HIV diagnosis are there in the UK each year (2019)? 40 400 4,000 40,000 None What is the mean male life expectancy in the UK? 71 79 83 89 None What is the mean male life expectancy in the most deprived part of the UK? 65 71 74 79 None What is the mean male life expectancy in the most affluent part of the UK? 79 86 89 92 None How many Homo sapiens have been born since the beginning of the species? 25 billion 110 billion 250 billion 1 trillion None How many light years to the edge of the observable universe? 1 billion 5 billion 50 billion 100 billion None One million seconds is how many days? 1 day 12 days 20 days 40 days None One billion seconds is how many years? 1 year 3 years 32 years 100 years None How many KG of CO2 does a human emit in their life? 10,000 25,000 100,000 1,000,000 None How many KG of CO2 does a cow emit in their life? 1,000 8,000 28,000 100,000 None How many KG of CO2 does a tree consume in its life? 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 None For a 747 aeroplane flying London to New York and back, how many KG of CO2 does the plane produce per passenger? 6 60 600 6,000 None Number of neurons in the human brain? 1 thousand 1 million 1 billion 100 billion None Ratio of the number of neurons in a human brain to a Gorilla brain? x1.0 x2.5 x10 x100 None In humans what percentage of daily energy expenditure goes towards powering the brain? 2 5 10 20 None How many stars in the Milky Way? 3 million 30 million 30 billion 300 billion None How many galaxies in the observable universe? 2,000 2 million 200 million 2 trillion None What percentage of the earths surface is water? 20 40 70 90 None Time's up
