Our Infinitesimal Human Life (by Dr JB Lim)

The Blogger’s Note: As an extension of his thought on “No Men Should Play God” (see previous post on June 26, 2011), Dr JB Lim has come out with some interesting calculations to show how infinitesimal our human life is. This is posted into his blog http://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/2011_06_26_archive.html and is reproduced as follows:

Let us ponder further.
(TIME)
Let us take 100 years as the maximum life span of a human being.

A 100 years in a human life there are: 100 years x 365.25 days in a Solar Year x 24 hours in a day x 60 minutes in an hour x 60 seconds in a minute = 3 155 760 000 seconds.
The age of the Observable Universe is about 13.7 billion years old. This was according to Hubble’s law which was based on spectral red shift measurements.
However more recent measurements suggest it could be as old as 20 billion (20 x 10^9) years.
Let us take the latest estimate and assume it to be 20 x 10^9 years old or 6.31152 x 10^17 seconds. Let us then take 3 155 760 000 seconds (100 years) be the life span of a human being.
If 20 x 10^9 years was to be super-compressed into a 24 hour day, then 100 years has also to be super-compressed into just 3 155 760 000 seconds ÷( 20 x 10^9 x 365.25 x 24 x 60 x 60 or 6.31152 x 10^17 seconds) = 5 x 10^-9 second .
The speed of light is 299792458 ms^ -1 (299792.458 km hr^ – 1)
Thus in 5 x 10^-9 second there is only sufficient time for light to travel to 1.49896229 meters
According to physicist Niels Bohr, electrons orbit only at certain distances from the nucleus, depending on their energy level. The simplest atom is the hydrogen with just a single electron orbiting around its nucleus and its smallest possible orbit, with the lowest energy level is called the Bohr radius.
Thus the Bohr radius of a hydrogen atom has a value of 5.2917720859(36) × 10^−11 m or approximately 1.058354417 x 10^-10 m in diameter.
This is the most likely the position of the electron from its nucleus when it is at 0 Kelvin and unexcited.
This means it will take 1.49896229 meters ÷ 1.058354417 x 10^-10 m (diameter of diameter of a hydrogen atom) = 1.4 x 10^10 (14 billion) hydrogen atoms lined up side-by-side for light to cross them in that diminutive 5 x 10^-9 (5 billionth) of a second.
Unfortunately that is all the infinitesimal short time we have on Earth. Regrettably that represents the life span of a human on Earth if the age of the Universe at 20 x 10^9 (20 billion) years were to be telescoped down to a 24 hour day for comparison.

Isn’t that amazing? Even my simple mathematics here does not lie.

(WEIGHT)
The mass of 14 billion hydrogen atoms

One hydrogen atom has a mass of 1.66 x 10^-27 kg
Therefore 1.4 x 10^10 hydrogen atoms will have a mass of 2.32 x 10^-17 kg
We can also calculate the mass of 14 billion hydrogen atoms in another way by applying Avogadro's number, which is approximately 6.022×10^23 (1 mole).
Example: 1.00 grams H × (6.02 × 10^23) / 1.01 grams (atomic mass of hydrogen) = 5.96 × 10^23 atoms of hydrogen
Therefore 1.4 x 10^10 hydrogen atoms = Y (6.02 x 10^23) / 1.01 grams = 1.4 x 10^10 atoms
Where Y is the weight of hydrogen atoms
If y (6.02 x 10^23) = 1.01 x 1.4 x 10^10
Therefore y = 1.01 x 1.4 x 10^10 / (6.02 x 10^23) = 2.348837 x 10^-14 gm or 2.34 x 10^-17 kg
Total Mass of the Observable Universe:
The mass of all the atoms in the observable universe is estimated to be 1.53×10^53 kg
If this mass can be scaled down like time proportionally from 20 billion years into a 24 hour time scale, it means that all the mass in the observable universe is only 1.53 x 10^53 kg / (20 x 10^9 x 365.25 x 24 x 60 x60) = 1.53 x 10^53 / 6.31152 x 10^17 = 2.424 x 10^35 kg
That means we will weigh only 2.34 x 10^-17 kg or 0.000 000 000 000 000 0234 kg in comparison.

Fancy that! That’s life!

Quote (Bible):

Your life is like the morning fog--it's here a little while, then it's gone. ... It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth (James 4:14)

Quote (William Shakespeare):

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing (Macbeth Act 5, scene 5, 19–28)

ju-boo lim
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The Blogger’s comments:

Dear Dr Lim,

Your scientific & mathematical deduction of human life as compared to the universe in terms of time and weight is most interesting and philosophical. I'm deeply touched. Our life is indeed but a span!

William Shakespeare also said, “The time of life is short; to spend that shortness basely, it would be too long.” Therefore, shouldn’t we all treasure this infinitesimal short journey to this Earth and spend our limited life time more wisely?

Doc, I know you are a Classical Song lover, but I find the lyrics of a song (first released in 2001) entitled “Life Is Too Short” performed by the German heavy metal/hard rock band “The Scorpions” quite meaningful and wish to share with you.

T.O. Lau

03/07/2011

(see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If2RX-I7Jnc)

Life Is Too Short

Have you ever seen the morning
When the sun comes up the shore
And the silence makes
A beautiful sound
Have you ever sat there waiting
For the time to stand still
For all the world to stop
From turning around

And you run
'Cause life is too short
And you run
'Cause life is too short

Have you ever seen the glowing
When the moon is on the rise
And the dreams are close
To the ones that we love
Have you ever sat there waiting
For heaven to give a sign
So we could find the place
Where angels come from

And you run
'Cause life is too short
And you run
'Cause life is too short
And you run
'Cause life is too short
And you run
'Cause life is too short

There's a time that turns
I'd turn back time
But I don't say I can
It only works if you believe in the truth
Well there's a time to live
And a time to cry
But if you're by my side
I will try to catch a star
I'll try to catch a star
Just for you

And I run
'Cause life is too short
And I run
'Cause life is too short
And I run
'Cause life is too short
And I run
'Cause life is too short

Too short
Too short
Life is too short

Too short
Too short
Life is too short