General Question

sarahc's avatar

How long does it take a raindrop to reach the ocean?

Asked by sarahc (20points) June 15th, 2008

If a raindrop fell in the Andes today, how long would it take to travel down the Amazon and reach the Atlantic Ocean?

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6 Answers

heyu1021's avatar

The Amazon River is approx. 6400 km long and it flows at a rate of 2.6 km/hr.

I’d say a little over 3 months, if my calculations are right.

heyu1021 (262points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
jrpowell's avatar

Or the drop could land in a curled up leaf and evaporate and never reach the ocean.

jrpowell (40562points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
heyu1021's avatar

@johnpowell i was thinking that too… but then decided to go with the technical answer.

heyu1021 (262points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
ebenezer's avatar

I think a close approximation to your answer is in the song “Think About Your Troubles” by Harry Nilsson

link

ebenezer (1464points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
Seesul's avatar

But if it evaporated up into the sky and turned into rain and then rained in the ocean, couldn’t it make it there before traveling down the Amazon? Or it could fall more downstream in the Amazon.

Seesul (2960points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
delirium's avatar

ebenezer: that is one of my absolute favorite songs and has inspired many a painting.

delirium (13718points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…

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