Why Noah’s Ark Never Happened. Because MATH.
I know that I don’t usually post religious kinds of stuff on G+, but I do think this kind of falls under skeptical and critical thinking, too.
On a Blab last night with Mark Traphagen (unfortunately, it was off the record, so no recording was made for watching or I would link it) and some others, we were talking about skepticism, recognizing how little we know, how do we question what we know, etc.
Well, it’s fascinating to see when someone uses a field totally beyond our normal experience to debunk an idea that is taken for granted by so many in religion. Of course, for Christians who just believe, of course “God” could manage this, but if you stop and question the probability of this happening…it quickly becomes apparent that it didn’t. Because MATH and BASIC METEOROLOGY make it clear that it is utterly impossible without violating so many basic laws of how the universe and our plant work.
Now I’m Going to Pile On & Make The Probability Even Worse
After seeing this image posted on FB (and the math looks pretty straightforward and solid, given my limited knowledge of math), it occurred to me that we can then add the force of the rain impacting the Ark, too. So we start with the assumption of 1 cubic inch of rain impacting the surface of the Ark every 10 seconds.
According to one Christian apologetics site that I checked, the Ark can be estimated to have a surface area of about 33,000 sq. inches.
One gallon of water (weighing approx. 8.3 pounds) = 231 cubic inches
33,000 sq. inches surface area/231 sq. inches (no need to convert since we’re just using 1 side of the cubic inch of water) = approx. 143 gallons
143 Gallons of water x 8.3 pounds = 1,187 pounds of water impacting the top surface of the Ark every ten seconds
We also know that F = ma (force = mass x acceleration). While every rain drop will have a slightly different terminal velocity based on size and atmospheric conditions, we can estimate by averaging. A few sources indicate most rain drops will be going 20mph at impact.
At this point, sadly, my math skills break down, but I think that if you take 1,187 pounds of water going 20mph = almost 24,000 Newtons of force hitting the surface of the Ark every ten seconds of the day = 2,400 Newtons PER SECOND for 40 consecutive days and nights = a total of 350 MILLION Newtons total force …..and it was made out of WOOD? I’m thinking that Ark would disintegrate in a few seconds from the impact.
Nope, Noah’s Ark never happened.