SortStack #1939 — 2031-09-30

By weight · Order from lightest to heaviest.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. An adult male white rhinoceros 2.3 t

   The 'white' is likely a mistranslation of the Dutch 'wijd', meaning wide — describing its broad, lawn-mowing mouth.

4. An adult male African bush elephant 6 t

   The largest land animal walks almost silently — its foot pads expand and absorb sound like cushioned trainers.

5. A Space Shuttle orbiter, empty on the runway 78 t

   Returning from orbit, the shuttle was a glider with no engines for a second try — every landing had to work the first time.

6. An Ohio-class nuclear submarine, submerged 18.8K t

   It displaces more than some WWII aircraft carriers and can stay underwater for months, limited mainly by the food supply.

← All puzzles · Play today’s SortStack