# Numbers you may know...but probably not **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2001, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090 "2001-01-21T03:09:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skwerl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Skwerl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skwerl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/1 "2001-01-21T03:09:55Z")
Most of these (read: 13) I got, but some of them are stumping me. I can’t figure out how I’d do a search for them with Google, so I’ll let y’all have a go at 'em: 1. 1,760 2. 2,000 3. 4,840 4. 640 5. 1,732 6. 2.54 7. 3.1416 8. 366 9. .3010 10. 1492 11. .4771 12. .4971 13. 1.6 14. 1.414 15. 1,728 16. 3-4-5 17. 6,080 18. 62 1/2 (aka 62.5) 19. 90 20. 88 They’re all numbers of some significance, but danged if I could figure them all out. Anyone wanna take a stab? ---
**Author:** ![Mnementh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mnementh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mnementh)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/2 "2001-01-21T03:12:07Z")
Well, 3.1415 is the start of pi… but that’s all I can get ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/3 "2001-01-21T03:18:10Z")
88 are the number of keys on a piano. 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue… Umm… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/4 "2001-01-21T03:22:58Z")
1760 yards in a mile 2.54 centimeters to the inch (I think) 366 days in a leap-year 62.5 = how old you are when you can reap the glorius benefits of your 401(k). ---
**Author:** ![tubagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b77776/32.png) [@tubagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tubagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/5 "2001-01-21T03:30:52Z")
1. 3.1416 - Pi 2. 1492- columbus sailed the ocian blue 3. .4771 - 10 to the power of .4771 is 3 ---
**Author:** ![Spike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Spike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spike)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/6 "2001-01-21T04:00:34Z")
1.414 is the square root of 2 ---
**Author:** ![They\_Call\_Me\_Sneeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@They\_Call\_Me\_Sneeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/They_Call_Me_Sneeze)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/7 "2001-01-21T04:01:52Z")
1. 3-4-5 is the lengths of the sides of some kind of triangle… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/8 "2001-01-21T04:02:48Z")
Oooh! 3-4-5 is the first Pythagorean triple! (9+16=25) ---
**Author:** ![tubagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b77776/32.png) [@tubagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tubagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/9 "2001-01-21T04:17:34Z")
2 2000 lbs in a ton 19. degrees in a right angle ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/10 "2001-01-21T04:17:41Z")
I believe those are all adjoining room numbers in the Warsaw Hilton. [sub]Sorry - old Polish joke[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/11 "2001-01-21T04:53:13Z")
Isn’t #4. 640 acres in a section, 1 square mile? Jim ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/12 "2001-01-21T05:06:14Z")
oh, and #17. 6080 is the number of feet in a nautical mile. ---
**Author:** ![HalberMensch242](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@HalberMensch242](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HalberMensch242)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/13 "2001-01-21T05:07:03Z")
ok…i really didn’t know any of these(except the Pi and the Columbus one), but 88 is the year that front242 realeased Front By Front…it was a pretty significant record for the time, but then again i’m just rambling…blah…blah…blah…woo woo zap! ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Sang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ee7513/32.png) [@Le\_Sang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Sang)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/14 "2001-01-21T05:42:08Z")
Summing up - some stolen, some my own 1. 1,760 - - - yards in a mile 2. 2,000 - - - pounds in a ton 3. 4,840 4. 640 - - - acres per square mile? 5. 1,732 6. 2.54 - - - roughly e (the number whose inverse is the natural log, aka ln) 7. 3.1416 - - - roughly pi 8. 366 - - - days in a leap year 9. .3010 10. 1492 - - - year of Columbus’ famed voyage 11. .4771 - - - log[sub]10/sub 12. .4971 13. 1.6 14. 1.414 - - - roughly \*2 15. 1,728 16. 3-4-5 - - - sides of a right triangle (Pythagorean triple) 17. 6,080 - - - feet in a natural mile 18. 62 1/2 (aka 62.5) 19. 90 - - - degrees in a right angle 20. 88 - - - keys on a piano for the record, number 9 looks like a batting average to me… ---
**Author:** ![SouprChckn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@SouprChckn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SouprChckn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/15 "2001-01-21T07:08:18Z")
1. 1.6 km = 1 mile roughly ---
**Author:** ![SouprChckn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@SouprChckn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SouprChckn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/16 "2001-01-21T07:09:20Z")
Oops… just noticed the OP said that already… ah well… ---
**Author:** ![honkytonkwillie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@honkytonkwillie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/honkytonkwillie)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/17 "2001-01-21T09:06:48Z")
1. 2.54 — I second the motion for centimeters per inch. 2. .4971 — log[sub]10/sub 3. 1.6 — number of kilometers in a mile. 4. 1,728 — cubic inches in a cubic foot. 5. 62 1/2 (aka 62.5) — same as 5/8. The thickness in inches of your typical drywall panel. Or the percentage of a mile that a kilometer will get you. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/18 "2001-01-21T16:03:56Z")
1. (1732) is sqrt(3) ---
**Author:** ![KP235](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@KP235](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP235)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/19 "2001-01-21T16:27:46Z")
Alternate answer for #20. 88 ci displacement on alot of Harleys. ---
**Author:** ![diamud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@diamud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diamud)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090/20 "2001-01-21T19:17:02Z")
48’40" or fight! (wasn’t that a slogan used to encourage Americans to get ready for war?) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-you-may-know-but-probably-not/51090.md?page=2)