# Cups of Sugar to the Moon **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119 "2004-03-13T21:17:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omoikane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c4cdca/32.png) [@Omoikane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omoikane)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/1 "2004-03-13T21:17:12Z")
The question is “How many cups of sugar would it take to get to the moon?” By my own calculations, if a 150lb person ran (it’s a silly question, so I made some silly assumptions), it would take ~7,705,685.5 cups. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/2 "2004-03-14T00:25:02Z")
Is this a homework question? There are probably lots of different ways to utilise the sugar - you can actually use it as a rocket propellant if you burn it in the presence of sufficient oxygen, which can either be supplied as straight O[sub]2[/sub], or by adding an oxidising compound. Or you could manufacture tiny self-replicating robots that would disassemble the sugar molecules and use the carbon to make nanotubes and build a moon tether. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/3 "2004-03-14T00:42:36Z")
Heck, let’s just re-combine the protons & neutrons to make some uranium or plutonium and use that to power a nuclear explosion that’ll hurl our fearless traveller to the target. It oughta take just a few pounds of sugar provided we can focus most of the explosive energy in the desired direction. Seriously, for the OP, a better more detailed question, even if it is mostly fantasy, will produce more useful responses. From what you wrote we can’t tell if you want to use the sugar as some sort of fuel, or just make a pile of it tall enough to reach the moon and then walk there, or what. We can’t read you rmind. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/4 "2004-03-14T01:55:45Z")
[Google](http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=150+pounds+*+384400000+meters+in+Calories&btnG=Google+Search) [calculator](http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=61301256.8++%2F+770+) is your friend. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/5 "2004-03-14T02:02:18Z")
Meh, that doesn’t stack up either. The 150lbs of force would lessen as you got further from Earth’s center of gravity. Plus you’ve got wind resistance to account for. I admit I don’t know how to calculate it. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/6 "2004-03-14T04:13:50Z")
Ok, I do not Understand this at all. Cups of sugar to the moon? Is this the distance in a line per cup of sugar, or each cup in a one grain partical line. This Question is Messed up, and you do not supply all information ---
**Author:** ![Truth\_Seeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/7 "2004-03-14T07:07:12Z")
_Yawn_ . . . First calculate the energy required to move to L[Sub]1[/Sub]. (The moon’s gravity will take you the rest of the way.) Then figure out how many dyne centimeters in a dram of sugar, apply appropriate conversion factors and Bob’s your uncle. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/8 "2004-03-14T07:13:24Z")
Wow, I was not aware that all objects that intersect with Lagrange point 1 end up on the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/9 "2004-03-14T07:33:47Z")
Put two or three cups of sugar on George Bush’s breakfast Cheerios and he’ll be so hopped-up that you could get him to sign _anything_, including a request to Congress to fund another lunar program. I mean, as long as the question’s open to interpretation… ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/10 "2004-03-14T07:40:04Z")
[Suddenly,](http://www.satirewire.com/charts/madrigals.shtml) [I’m reminded](http://www.satirewire.com/charts/dobbs.shtml) of [SatireWire](http://www.satirewire.com/charts/towels.shtml), a [site](http://www.satirewire.com/charts/tolstoy.shtml) that never should have [died.](http://www.satirewire.com/charts/supplydemean.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/11 "2004-03-14T12:11:40Z")
I thought this was going to be about introducing ourselves to the neighbor… but in reverse, if you know what I mean. Either that, or a question about [Alice Kramden](http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Park/1568/Honeymooners.html), maybe. _“One of these days, Alice! One of these days! POW! To the mOON!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Omoikane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c4cdca/32.png) [@Omoikane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omoikane)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/12 "2004-03-14T15:31:19Z")
🙂 Firstly, it’s not my question - so don’t think badly of me for it. It seemed just vague enough to allow for some creativity, hence I posted it here. I wasn’t disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cups-of-sugar-to-the-moon/234119/13 "2004-03-14T18:39:16Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **Omoikane**! (How heavy are you?) 😉 You might also be interested in [the Speed of Caffeine](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=244965).