Where is Mark?

[dlavery]

Does anyone know the whereabouts of Mark Leon? I talked with him shortly after the conclusion of the finals on Einstein. He mentioned that he was not quite sure when he would be heading home, but he was sure it would not take long. Then this Associated Press story appeared. Can this be just a coincidence? It could explain that blue-haired streak that was seen flashing across the country late Saturday night.

So let's see. 2880 cases of Red Bull are missing. 24 cans per case, or a total of 69,120 cans of Red Bull. Mark needs to go from Atlanta to San Jose, which is about 2441 miles. Mark weighs about 180 pounds. But he also will need to transport the Red Bull during the trip to San Jose. To keep things simple, assume a 12 ounce can of Red Bull actually weighs 12 ounces. 69,120 cans would weigh 51,840 pounds. Assuming an even distribution of the rate of comsumption during the trip, the average weight of the Red Bull would be 25,920 pounds. So the average mass moved during the trip is 26,100 pounds (Mark plus the Red Bull). Given the Atlanta-San Jose distance, it would take 336 billion ft-lbs of energy to get Mark and the Red Bull home. Mark's observed velocity during the competition is about 60 ft/sec (anyone that has watched Mark as MC during a match can attest to this). At this velocity, it should take Mark about 60 hours to run from Atlanta to San Jose, pulling a trailer full of Red Bull (which he is consuming as he goes). With 1 HP = 550 ft-lb/sec, that would mean he is putting out about 2831 horsepower during his little jog. Yeah, that seems about right. Assuming an even distribution of energy drinks consumed during the trip, that would be an average of 28.316 cans per mile, or one can for every 186.5 feet. At 60 feet/second, Mark is sucking down one can of Red Bull every three seconds. Again, based on observed behavior during the competitions, this seems about right.

Someone needs to alert the Tennessee authorities. I think we have our culprit!

-dave

[Richard Wallace]

OK, I'll bite.

Is this story a load of bull?

[Brandon Martus]

Originally Posted by Richard

OK, I'll bite.

Is this story a load of bull?

Which one?

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by dlavery

Does anyone know the whereabouts of Mark Leon? I talked with him shortly after the conclusion of the finals on Einstein. It could explain that blue-haired streak that was seen flashing across the country late Saturday night.
-dave

He was sighted, still in Atlanta, dancing (what a surprise!) late Saturday night (might have even been Sunday morning ) so may need to tweak the time frame.

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by RoboMom

He was sighted, still in Atlanta, dancing (what a surprise!) late Saturday night (might have even been Sunday morning ) so may need to tweak the time frame.

I can confirm Mark's spoting at the afterparty around 9pm on Saturday night.

[Andy Baker]

I saw Mark at an after-after party Saturday night. He mentioned something about loading up the truck and getting an early start on the Golden Ball Relay.


AB

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by dlavery

Assuming an even distribution of the rate of comsumption during the trip, the average weight of the Red Bull would be 25,920 pounds. So the average mass moved during the trip is 26,100 pounds (Mark plus the Red Bull). Given the Atlanta-San Jose distance, it would take 336 billion ft-lbs of energy to get Mark and the Red Bull home. Mark's observed velocity during the competition is about 60 ft/sec (anyone that has watched Mark as MC during a match can attest to this). At this velocity, it should take Mark about 60 hours to run from Atlanta to San Jose, pulling a trailer full of Red Bull (which he is consuming as he goes). With 1 HP = 550 ft-lb/sec, that would mean he is putting out about 2831 horsepower during his little jog. Yeah, that seems about right.

Anyone else see the conceptual error here?

Force required to move an object is only equal to the object's weight if it's going up. Power to move a trailer carrying a 13 ton payload at 60 ft/sec (about 40 mph) roughly horizontally is certainly much less that 2831 HP.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by Richard

Anyone else see the conceptual error here?

Force required to move an object is only equal to the object's weight if it's going up. Power to move a trailer carrying a 13 ton payload at 60 ft/sec (about 40 mph) roughly horizontally is certainly much less that 2831 HP.

But since the AP story indicates that only the trailer was removed and the truck was left behind, we have to remember that Mark is dragging the trailer full of Red Bull with him. Although Mark is strong, he is not quite super-human, so I considered that he is pulling the trailer with the front skid down to support some of the weight. So the trailer is not just a free-rolling system on a horizontal plane, but has considerable friction to overcome as the skids scrape along the ground. Without specific CoF data from the trailer/ground interactions, the worst case is assumed (ie. pure vertical movement) to provide the maximum bounding condition for the problem.

Besides, have you EVER seen Mark do anything that did not involve a significant change in altitude?!?!
-dave

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by dlavery

Have you EVER seen Mark do anything that did not involve a significant change in altitude?!?!

Silly me! I assumed he'd take the path of least resistance to get to San Jose.

Relying on a deeper understanding of Mark's penchant for expending more energy than the task requires, Dave correctly reasoned that he would elevate the load of bull significantly before translating home.

I stand corrected.

[thasler]

Mark was on the United flight from Atlanta to San Francisco that left early Sunday morning. I followed him as far as I could, but I did not see his destination from there.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by thasler

Mark was on the United flight from Atlanta to San Francisco that left early Sunday morning. I followed him as far as I could, but I did not see his destination from there.

Wow, he got from the after-party at 9 pm to San Jose and back to Atlanta in time for a sunday morning flight? That's impressive, I think we need to adjust his estimated velocity!

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Wow, he got from the after-party at 9 pm to San Jose and back to Atlanta in time for a sunday morning flight? That's impressive, I think we need to adjust his estimated velocity!

There was a young lady named Bright,
Whose speed was much faster than light;
She set out one day
In a relative way,
And returned on the previous night!

(ca. 1950s, anthologized by Bennett Cerf)

Fueled by 4 oz/sec of Red Bull, Mark might have a chance to catch Ms. Bright!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

I think there is a lot of conjecture in this post. I definitely saw him on the Einstein field congratulating the Champions and the Chairman's winners. I think in their enthusiasm, Thunder Chickens packed him in the crate with their robot. I am guessing he is somewhere in Ohio at the moment.

However, Big Mike was down there hugging Paul again and Mark could have been caught in the fallout. Having been mistaken for blue confetti, he could have been swept up into a big pile and is now in an Altanta landfill.