paul burney dot com
doing the truffle shuffle since 1985
Caesar's Last Breath
It is nearly certain that with every breath, I inhale some air exhaled by Julius Caesar with his last gasp.
Though it might sound a bit odd at first, it is actually fairly simple. Here's the most basic idea and rough calculations:
Numbers and Assumptions
- Number: The average breath contains around 1022 molecules of
air.
- Number: The approximate number of molecules in the
atmosphere is about 1044.
- Assumption: The molecules from Caesar's last breath have dispersed evenly through the atmosphere and their number has remained relatively constant.
Probability Calculation
There are several ways to do the calculation. I feel the easiest is the following:
Probability of any molecule belonging to Caesar's last breath:
Caesar's breath molecules / Total air molecules
1022 / 1044
1 in 1022
So that's a pretty small chance that any individual molecule belongs to Caesar. However, with each breath I have 1022 chances to get a molecule so the probability is:
Number of chances * Probability
1022 * 1/1022 = 1022 / 1022 = 1
So it is highly probable that I get one of Caesar's breath molecules in each breath I take.
Further Information
For more information, please see the following references:
Books
- 200% of nothing : an eye-opening tour through the twists and turns of math abuse and innumeracy. 1993. Dewdney, A. K.
- Innumeracy : mathematical illiteracy and its consequences. 1988. Paulos, John Allen.
Web sites
