Ah...Ah...Chew on these Facts!
Consider these statistics regarding a single sneeze (or in medical terms, “sternutation”) generated by M.I.T. scientists:
- A single sneeze can spread over 85,000,000 bacteria
- A single sneeze can project up to 4,600 particles into the air
- A particle in a sneeze can reach a "muzzle velocity" of 152 feet per second.
Question 1: Estimate the number of sneezes that occur somewhere in the United States every five minutes, and the resultant amount of bacteria and/or particles spread?
Question 2: In miles per hour, how fast is a sneeze particle traveling?
Question 3: Donna Griffiths, Worstershire (UK), holds the world record for sneezing, when she sneezed for 978 days in a row, stopping on 16 September 1983. Supposing that she sneezed five times per day during that period, what amounts of bacteria and/or particles did she spread?
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