SortStack #2828 — 2034-03-07
By weight · Order from lightest to heaviest.
- A standard steel paperclip 1 g
During WWII, Norwegians wore paperclips on their lapels as a quiet symbol of resistance against occupation.
- A AA alkaline battery 24 g
Billions of AA cells are produced worldwide every year, making it the planet's most popular battery size.
- A liter of water 1 kg
The kilogram was originally defined in the 1790s as the mass of exactly this much water — the tie was only fully broken in 2019.
- An adult hippopotamus 1.5 t
Hippos cannot actually swim — they sink and gallop along the riverbed, surfacing to breathe every few minutes.
- The International Space Station 420 t
Assembled over 42 flights, it circles Earth 16 times a day at 28,000 km/h, so its crew sees 16 sunrises daily.
- 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'.