The boys, the chicken and the world!

The boys, the chicken and the world!
Keep "chickin" in regularly to keep up with the chicken's adventures

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Kernels of Corn


Yesterday my Dad gave Matt and me the assignment to figure out how many kernels of corn there are left to harvest. The answer was ~6,960,000,000 kernels of corn are left to harvest! The way we figured it out, was first that we had 400 acres of corn left to harvest. Then we multiplied that by 200 bushels per acre so that we would know how many bushels we had left to harvest. The answer was 80,000 bushels left to harvest. Then we multiplied 80,000 bushels by 60 pounds per bushel. We got 4,800,000 pounds of corn left to harvest. We then had to figure out how many kernels are in a pound. We counted for a very long time. The answer we came up with was 1,450 kernels per pound. To figure out how many kernels we had left to harvest, we then multiplied 4,800,000 pounds left to harvest, by 1,450 kernels per pound. We have 6,960,000,000 kernels left to harvest.

This morning, my Dad gave me a new problem. I was supposed to find out how many kernels we have already harvested. We have harvested 150 acres of corn. 150 acres times 200 bushels per acre = 30,000 bushels harvested. 30,000 bushels of corn harvested times 60 pounds per bushel = 1,800,000 pounds of corn harvested. Next, 1,800,000 pounds of corn harvested times 1,450 kernels per pound. ~2,610,000,000 kernels of corn have been harvested.

My Dad then told me to find out how many kernels will be harvested. I added together ~2,610,000,000 kernels harvested + ~6,960,000,000 kernels to be harvested = ~9,570,000,000 kernels of corn will be harvested total.

P.S. These are approximate (~) numbers. Depending on the size of the kernels, a total number of kernels per pound can be larger than 1,450, or smaller than 1,450. You also get anywhere around 200 bushels per acre. The number of acres done, and to be done are also appr. numbers. Matt and I did the best we could.



-Andrew

6 comments:

Katrina said...

OK Andy Now how many kernels of corn does a chicken eat in one hour? Then determine how many kernels your chicken will eat during the one year trip.

Gouda said...

Your dad sounds like a WASL test. Shhh, don't tell him I said that!

Anonymous said...

Andy- Can you help me with my math homework? Since I haven't had a math class in 10 years!! I think you could handle college math. :)

Anonymous said...

Nice work Andrew! I know Ms. O'Brien would be proud! I'm glad to hear you guys are having such a wonderful trip!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

i disliked the corn project very much. it took a long time. it was very "tedious."

p.s. i was the one who wrote the deleted comment above, i misspelled a couple of words. my dad also got mad at me for useing the word boring.