Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Think of the Children

Regular readers should feel free to skip today’s article. It’s intended to help out a very specific segment of one-time visitors.

It’s time for another installment of “Help the Kids with their Homework.”™ The question I keep seeing likely derives from a mathematics assignment, but it also has a nice geography twist. It’s been all-the-rage according to my website access logs the last few days. I was curious about it myself so I gladly researched a plausible answer. Hopefully I can walk through the steps and provide a solution before the homework needs to be turned in.

How many feet is Interstate 20?

Interstate 20 runs from just east of Kent, Texas across the Southeastern United States all the way to Florence, South Carolina.

There are a number of places where one might begin to figure this out. I started with statistics provided by the U.S. Government’s Federal Highway Administration, a part of the Department of Transportation. They’ve compiled the FHWA Route Log and Finder List which records the total distance of Interstate 20 as 1,539.38 miles. Their figure also includes “overlap miles” which are stretches of road that are shared by two or more Interstate highways.

I decided to count the overlap miles since a driver would cover them if she drove the entire distance from Kent to Florence.

The major map websites might be another source but I stuck with the FHWA because it’s probably more reliable and definitive. The map I’ve prepared looks great but it does provide a slightly different answer than the U.S. Government: 1,534 miles. Sure, both sources provide answers that are really close but it seemed the answer required precision or it wouldn’t have demanded a measurement in feet. I don’t know. Maybe I’m over-thinking it.

One mile equals 5,280 feet so the answer can be reduced to a simple mathematical equation: 5,280 feet/mile X 1,539.38 miles = 8,127,926.4 feet. This can be calculated directly within the Google Toolbar. It also equals: 2,477 kilometres; 1,455,748 smoots; 1.0946 × 109 potrzebies; or 12,315 furlongs. I love that Google calculator.

A few days ago I got a comment on the site from a student in Australia that went like this: “Thanks i cheated from your site for my school homework answers!!!” That’s not my intent. Hopefully those of you working on this assignment will use this article as a way to walk through steps that are necessary to reach a conclusion.

“… and if you’re not careful you may learn something before it’s done.“

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7 responses to “Think of the Children”

  1. Greg Avatar
    Greg

    I had a chance recently to ask Don Knuth what he thought about the potrzebie being a unit in Google Calculator. He hadn’t known that and seemed flattered by it. Also, how many interstates are wholly within a municipality? The Wikipedia “Roadgeek” article says that I-990 in Amherst, NY, is the only one, but I personally attest that I-490 in Cleveland also fits that description. There are probably some (unsigned?) in New York City and LA. Any others you can think of?

    Reply
    1. Twelve Mile Circle Avatar
      Twelve Mile Circle

      Like you, I’m skeptical of the “Roadgeek” claim. I’d have to consult the maps but I’d add (subject to confirmation), I-375 in Detroit. There are some other good possibilities listed on kurumi.com.

      Reply
      1. Benjamin Lukoff Avatar
        Benjamin Lukoff

        I-705 in Washington is entirely within Tacoma.

        Reply
      2. Joe Avatar
        Joe

        Unverified by me, but additional contenders include I-124 (Chattanooga, TN), I-345 (Dallas, TX), I-444 (Tulsa, OK), I-478 (New York City, although it does cross borough lines), I-878 (New York City), I-194 (Mandan, ND), I-695 (Washington DC), I-296 (Grand Rapids, MI). All of those are unsigned and come from http://www.interstate-guide.com/unsigned.html. You can probably also get more from http://www.interstate-guide.com/main.html, but I don’t have the time right now to compile the list of candidates.

        Reply
        1. Anthony Avatar
          Anthony

          I-980 is entirely within the city limits of Oakland, California.

          Reply
  2. Vic Tomasello Avatar
    Vic Tomasello

    A driver…she?

    Dude, stop messing with English; “he” is definitely the default pronoun

    Reply
  3. James D Avatar
    James D

    I’d probably quote it to five significant figures. 8,127,900 ft. That’s about as precise as those data are (the miles figure is to six); and even this is probably a bit too precise, seeing as the distance will vary by a few feet on every curve depending on whether one is on the inside or outside lane at the time.

    Reply

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