It is almost harvest time for the back 40, and a sense of mystery envelopes the WLBOTT HQ. Since our crop is sweet potatoes, we don’t know how many or how big.
So we’re having a contest! Guess the weight of the largest sweet potato we harvest!
You may specify your weight in pounds, kilograms, stones, drams, yoctograms, buttloads[1], batmans[2], international bitterness unit (IBU), hobbits[3], etc. One caveat, though – anything that makes me use a calculator will have a 10% tariff applied.
at the WLBOTT Agricultural Extension Station Back 40.
The unpaid interns are affectionately known as “Waggies”
[1] Butt: An old unit for measuring wine, equal to two hogsheads, or about 500 liters (132 gallons) – Gemini
[2] The batman (Turkish pronunciation: [batˈman]) was a unit of mass used in the Ottoman Empire and among Turkic peoples of the Russian Empire. It has also been recorded as a unit of area in Uyghur-speaking regions of Central Asia. – Wikipedia
[3] The hobbit (also hobbett, hobbet, or hobed, from Welsh: hobaid) is a unit of volume or weight formerly used in Wales for trade in grain and other staples. It was equal to two and a half bushels, but was also often used as a unit of weight, which varied depending on the material being measured. – Wikipedia
Current Guesses
- Elder G: 5 lb 3 oz
- Elder JZ: 3 lb 2 oz
- Elder JA: I don’t know much about sweet potatoes, so I am at somewhat of a disadvantage. The ones we generally see in the grocery store are nowhere as large as Elders G and JZ estimate. So my guess is that it will weigh in at 100 Shekel, or 1260 Obol or 7465 Ratti. (Those measurements are from, respectively, Babylon, Ancient Greece and Ancient India.)
Unlike the USA, we here in Canada prefer to open our markets to free trade, so in order to avoid your tariff, these measurements equate to 907 grams (or an even 2 Lbs, to use the ancient system of measurement still in use today in the USA). - Elder JimZim: Gentle people – I have observed the diligence (obsession) that Elder JZ has shown in tending to his sweet potato crop on the WLBOTT back 40. Also, the crop has received several inches of rain lately which follows several months of extreme temperature and necessary irrigation. Since I have no knowledge of agriculture and horticulture, I will resort to the well founded method of taking a WAG of 3.86 pounds.
My tater mass guess is 0.12 slugs.[1] - Elder M: $1! (Oh wait, that was The Price is Right…)
In homage to the rest of the world’s orderly system of weights and measures, I will guess 1 kilogram, or 2.2 lbs. - Sister Anastasiia: Hi, Elder JZ. Nice contest you have come up with. I wanna take part, and my bet is 7 kilos (15.4324 lbs). Can it be real? Keep me posted on this topic!
- SU Rochelle: 5 lbs
- Elder KM: I guess 3 lbs ☺
- Sally T. Intern: 10 lbs
- Elder MJ: 2.5 lbs
- Elder DZ: 3.1415926 lbs
[1] Gentle people – I was conflicted during our submissions of the sweet tater size whether we should be estimate the mass vs the weight. While weight is usually useful in our worldly domain, WLBOTT does have interstellar ambitions and perhaps a measure that is not gravity dependent would be more useful. I am personally fond of the US Engineering unit of mass- The Slug.
slug = weight / gravitational acceleration, with units (lb-sec^2/ft)
So my tater weight guess of 3.86 Lbs can be converted to slugs by dividing by the acceleration due to gravity at 3300 Peddle Path – approximately 32.2 Ft/sec^2.
So my tater mass guess is 0.12 slugs.
Since the precise value of gravitational acceleration at Peddle Path is in question, Elder JZ is conveniently located very near the UT Center for Gravitational Physics. Neat figures on their website and our second cousin (twice removed) teaches there – Aaron Zimmerman. Aaron spent time at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics in Toronto. (Not to be confused with the Canadian Institute for Applied, Everyday, Run of the Mill Astrophysics). I assume Cousin Aaron speaks both Canadian and English which could be helpful with this crowd.
https://weinberg.utexas.edu/research/center-gravitational-physics
Elder JimZim
The Prize
For a period of 24 hours, the winner will be designated a “WLBOTT Person of Interest.”
In the spirit of transparency, we will share information on the World’s Heaviest Sweet Potato.
Please Beware of Impostors!
This does not look like Switzerland. I see no Alps in the distance.
This is not what you think!
An AI enhanced video from the back 40: