Sam is not a fan of the Imperial system, but this isn’t really so much a complaint as a cross examination. It was discussed over dinner, though, so work with me here.
Sam: “Mom, how high does a plane fly? Is it close to the tallest building?”
Me: “Planes fly at 39,000 feet, baby.”
Sam: “No, in meters.”
Me: “Hmm, Alexa, how many meters is 39,000 feet?”
Alexa: “39,000 feet is 11,887.2 meters.”
Me: “There you go, buddy. 11,887 meters.”
Sam: “How many tallest buildings in the world is that?”
Me: “Uhh, how tall is the tallest building in the world?”
Sam: “828 meters.”
Me: “Okay. Alexa, what is 11,887 divided by 828?”
Alexa: “11,887 divided by 828 is 14.3562801932.”
Me: “So, to get to the height of a plane, you would need about 14 and a third of the tallest buildings.”
Sam: “A third? So 14 plus three more?”
Me: “No, a third is a piece of a whole. It’s . . okay, you would need 14 of the tallest buildings and one Shin Godzilla.”
Sam: “Okay.”