The Physics of a Mesopotamian Flood.
ABSTRACT:
ark from Shuruppak to Qardu is calculated. The power exceeds that reasonably
owned by human beings. Some views of Noah's Flood requires that the ark start
in Southern Mesopotamia and land in Turkey. Since this requires the ark
travel uphill against the flow of water, this document examines the amount of
energy required to move the ark in this fashion via human energy output. The
ark starts at Shuruppak and ends at Quardu 1000 km northwest. The maximum
output of a human being on a daily basis is 7000 calories. Given the crew
complement, the conclusion is reached that after a couple of months of pushing
the ark northward, the current would push them further south than where they
started.
INTRO
What I am going to show is that it is impossible within the current laws of
physics for an ark to be picked up at the topographically low delta region and
to be deposited anywhere near Qardu in Turkey. Nothing more substantial than
Freshman level physics will be used.
A look at a topological map of the region shows that Shuruppak is less than
500 feet in elevation. The lowest land in the region around Qardu in Turkey
is 6500 feet elevation. (Illustrated World Atlas Set, Atlas of the World,
1993, p. 22) Thus at a minimum the ark must be raised by 6000 feet (1829 m)in
elevation for this scenario to be correct.
WEIGHT OF THE ARK
Is this possible. Assuming that the ark is half the widely accepted
dimentions of 137 X 14 X 23 meters (assumed dimensions 68.5 X 7 X 11.4. m)
Assuming a foot (.3 m) thick layer of wood (specific gravity .651 g/cc (651
kg/m^3) see Ranald V. Giles, "Fluid Mechanics & Hydraulics, Schaum's outline
seris, 1962), p. 37)
68.5 X 11.4 X .3 = 234.2 m^3 of wood for each of the floors and the top and
the bottom. The ark has a top and bottom and two interior floors so this
number must be multiplied by 4.
top,bottom, 2 floors= 937 m^3 of wood.
There are two ends, a front and a back. This is
11.4 X 7 X .3 = 23.9 m^3 of wood for each one. 47.88 m^3 for both.
There are two sides of the ark a left and a right. This totals to
2 x 68.5 X 7 X .3 = 287.7 m^3 of wood.
Adding this all up gives
287.7 + 47.9 + 937 = 1272.6 m^3 of wood for an ark half the normally accepted
dimensisions.
The weight of the empty ark is 1272.6 m^3 X 651 kg/m^3=828462 kilograms. A
reasonable estimate for the loaded ark would be twice this figure, 1,656,924
kilograms.
LIFTING THE ARK TO MT. QUARDU FOOTHILLS (1982 M ELEVATION)
There are two ways for the ark to be lifted the requisite elevation. First,
the water can do it. Boats in locks are raised in this fashion. But in order
for this to work, the Mesopotamian region must have been covered by (1982 M
(6500 feet of water.). In this case the entire Mesopotamian civilization
would be destroyed. This did not happen.
The second way is for the humans to perform the work. Some have suggested
this. He writes:
>During that period of floating, the ark was given direction by wind,
>or punting poles, or both.
Is this physically reasonable?
The total energy needed to transport the ark to that region (1000 kilometers
away) is
Energy = mgh + Fd
where m is the mass of the ark, g is the gravitational acceleration, h is the
height the ark must be raised (6000 feet or 1829 m), F is the force used to
move the ark and d is the distance.
CALCULATION OF F
To move the ark 1000 km in one year means an average speed of .03 m/s. If the
water is flowing at 25 feet per sec. gives a relative velocity of 25.03 ft/s
against the water.
Now F is a measure of the friction of the water as it flows down hill against
the ark. The ark was poorly designed for frictional reduction. F can be
calculated by assuming normal river flood velocities along rivers. Since the
Flood of Noah was something large, and memorable, flow rates at the upper end
of observed values would probably apply. Luna B. Leopold (Leopold Luna, A View
of the River, Harvard University Press, 1994, p. 33) says that the fastest
water velocities ever observed are 30 feet per second. Apparently, these were
observations made by watching objects float down the river. The fastest
velocity ever measured with a current meter was 22.4 feet per second in the
Potomac River at Chain Bridge on May 14, 1932. There is a difficulty in
measureing the fastest velocities with such a device because they must be
dropped into the center of the river from above, which requires a bridge.
According to a personal communication by Tom McCloud, the American Red Cross
CANOEING first edition 1956 page 351 velocities as high as 24 feet per second
have been observed on the Caney Fork, Rock Island Tennesee. The Brazos River,
near Waco, Texas, (certainly not a mountainous area) recorded veloicities of
22 feet per second.
Since the flood was supposed to be very large and memorable, we can assume
that the velocity of water was large. We will assume that the ark is in a
stream flowing 25 feet per second and the ark (half the generally accepted
size) is half submerged. This means that the ark is 1/8 the volume of the
generally accepted figure and that the relative velocity of water against the
ark is 25 feet/sec. The narrow end of the ark is 37 feet wide and 22.5 feet
high. Half of this area is 416 square feet. We will assume that the narrow end
of the ark is what is facing upstream. The friction then is (Giles op cit,
p. 56)
F= C rho A(V^2)/2 --this equation must be done in British units.
where C is the coefficient of drag, rho the density, A the area of the surface
hit by the water, and V is the velocity of the water.
C = .455/(log Re)^2.58 (Giles, p. 100, 264)
Re (Reynolds number) is 25 feet/sec X 37 ft/ (1.217 x 10^-5)= 76 million.
C = .0021
With rho =1000 kg/m^3=62.4 lb/ft^3, V=25 f/s
F= .0021 X 62.4 lbs/ft^3 X 416 x .5 X (25)^2=17,,035 lbs.
Converting to Newtons,
F = 17,035 lb x 4.448 Newtons/lb= 75772 Newtons
Thus the total energy needed is
total energy = mgh+Fd
The distance from Southern Mesopotamia to Turkey is 1000 kilometers.
this is
1,656,924 kg X 9.8 m/s^2 X 1829 m + 75772 X 1,000,000 = 29,699,037,160 +
75,772,000,000 = 105,471,606,760 joules.
This means that 8 people must output this many joules in one year. This
represents an output of 25,207,714 kcal in a year. Or a daily output of 8600
kcal per person per day just to push the boat.
According to Kimberly A. Hammond and Jared Diamond,("Maximal Sustained Energy
Budgets in Humans and Animals," Nature, April 3, 1997, pp 457-462), the
maximum sustained daily output of a human being is 7000 kilocalories per day.
Because of the need for more calories than humans can output in order to move
the ark from Mesopotamia to Ararat, we must conclude that the people in the
ark would not be able to keep the ark moving north. They would also not be
able to feed any animals on the boat. All they could do would be to slow the
southward trip.
This calculation does not take into account that some of the 7000 calories per
day must be spent on other activities, like feeding the animals. This also
assumes that all of the energy output is efficiently converted to forward
motion.
If they ever find a 20 mile per hour rapids, they might be unable to cross it.
glenn
Foundation, Fall and Flood
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