Anchorage Daily News

31 — Hours available for Santa to make Christmas Eve deliveries across the Earth’s 24 time zones, if he takes advantage of the Earth’s rotation

75 million — Approximate miles Santa must travel

650 miles per second — Approximate speed Santa must travel to serve each household with a Christian child

822.6 — Approximate number of homes Santa must visit each second on Christmas Eve

2,950.7 tons — Approximate weight Santa would gain if he consumed 1 cookie and an 8-ounce glass of milk at each home

321,000 tons— Estimated weight of Santa’s sleigh, assuming 2 pounds of toys per child

214,200— Reindeer Santa would need to pull that load (assuming aerial reindeer can pull 10 times a normal reindeer load)

17,500 — G forces inflicted on Santa as his sled accelerates to 650 miles per second

14.3 quintillion — Estimated energy, in joules, absorbed by the lead reindeer on Santa’s sleigh

0.0042 second — Estimated time it takes Santa and sleigh to vaporize from friction during acceleration

Sources: Urban Legends Reference page, “The Physics of Santa and His Reindeer,” www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/physics.asp.

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