SortStack #1652 — 2030-12-17

By weight · Order from lightest to heaviest.

1. A compact disc 15 g

   A CD's spiral data track is less than a micrometer wide and would stretch about five kilometers if unwound.

2. A regulation NBA basketball 620 g

   Each ball is covered in tens of thousands of tiny pebbled bumps, a texture invented so sweaty hands could keep their grip.

3. A large cast-iron skillet 2.5 kg

   Well-seasoned cast iron is essentially a natural nonstick polymer baked onto metal; some American pans have been in daily use since the 1800s.

4. An adult blue whale 140 t

   The largest animal ever known has a heart the size of a small car, and its calves gain roughly 90 kg per day on milk alone.

5. A Saturn V rocket, fully fueled for a Moon launch 3K t

   Apollo crews rode atop a small warship's worth of kerosene, hydrogen, and oxygen — most of it burned within minutes.

6. The steel arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge 39K t

   The arch rises and falls up to 18 cm with temperature swings; locals affectionately call the bridge 'the Coathanger'.

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