# How far up did the ash go up in the 79 AD eruption



## Dominator211 (Dec 10, 2017)

I'm doing this for a project (against my will) and I cannot seem to find one concrete answer some say it was 20 mi in the air and some say it was 20,000 m in the air so i am very confused... if there is a concrete answer i would like to know and compare this to a passenger plane which fly at about 40,000 Ft


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## sarkwalvein (Dec 10, 2017)

Dominator211 said:


> I'm doing this for a project (against my will) and I cannot seem to find one concrete answer some say it was 20 mi in the air and some say it was 20,000 m in the air so i am very confused... if there is a concrete answer i would like to know and compare this to a passenger plane which fly at about 40,000 Ft


Erm... Perhaps I am lazy, but I would go with the Wikipedia statement about this (that of course could be wrong) and call it a day.
That would imply:

It went 21mi up, that is 33Km in human units.
A passenger plane (747, etc.) normally flies at around 9-10km (TBH, almost always I've flown it rarely higher than that, 40,000 ft is too high IMHO)
Conclusion: It went up three times higher than a passenger plane.


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## DinohScene (Dec 10, 2017)

Check Wikipedia and give the source.

If it's wrong, blame Wikipedia.


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## Dominator211 (Dec 10, 2017)

sarkwalvein said:


> Erm... Perhaps I am lazy, but I would go with the Wikipedia statement about this (that of course could be wrong) and call it a day.
> That would imply:
> 
> It went 21mi up, that is 33Km in human units.
> ...


i have another site open that states otherwise
http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_...rculaneum/pompeii_live/eruption_timeline.aspx

also i would like the info to be as accurcate as possible as my family has a very rich and close bond to pompeii


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## sarkwalvein (Dec 10, 2017)

Dominator211 said:


> i have another site open that states otherwise
> http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_...rculaneum/pompeii_live/eruption_timeline.aspx
> 
> also i would like the info to be as accurcate as possible as my family has a very rich and close bond to pompeii


What do you mean? It says the same:


> The cloud reaches its maximum height of over 30km then collapses spectacularly.


33Km (21mi) is actually "over 30km".

That said, I myself would accept the first one I found as true, and call it a day. (unless I actually cared)

PS: And regarding passenger planes "altitude", look for "average cruising altitude" not maximum altitude. You never really fly at the maximum altitude unless you want to waste fuel and you really need it (perhaps an emergency).


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## Dominator211 (Dec 10, 2017)

sarkwalvein said:


> What do you mean? It says the same:
> 
> 33Km (21mi) is actually "over 30km".
> 
> ...


it ust did a random google search ad 39k ft came up twice


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## sarkwalvein (Dec 10, 2017)

Dominator211 said:


> it ust did a random google search ad 39k ft came up twice


That is almost sure the maximum height (I am calling this out of experience), because of that I suggest you to look for "average _*cruising*_ altitude" for a Boeing 747-777 or whatever passenger plane you like.


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## Dominator211 (Dec 10, 2017)

sarkwalvein said:


> That is almost sure the maximum height (I am calling this out of experience), because of that I suggest you to look for "average _*cruising*_ altitude" for a Boeing 747-777 or whatever passenger plane you like.


I just really want to nail this project as there is a good price for 1st place and that i am also related to the guy that found it.... DEADASS


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## Quantumcat (Dec 10, 2017)

If you want to do well, don't do random google searches, hit your library and include proper references from books.


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## FAST6191 (Dec 10, 2017)

"good price for 1st place"
If your attitude to the project was conveyed in this thread then good luck with that. In most schools of any reasonable size there is usually someone quite bored that will go all in.

If your profile is accurate and you are 14 it changes the requirements a bit compared to some other ages and skill sets, however you don't have to be limited to what they teach you (unless you are being examined on what they teach you in which case most lesser places, which is most of the world, will penalise you for colouring outside the proverbial lines, even if that is what physics says).

Start with.

How do they tell today? Got atmospheric probes I imagine. Lacked those 2000 years ago though and time travel has not yet been invented.

The atmosphere was mostly the same though so you can use secondary indicators. The higher you go, the different wind systems you interact with and the further it goes.
Can you then dig down in sediment around the world to see what went on? Ice cores are a similar field in this instance.
Was it big enough to do one of those temperature drops, something that will be indicated in plant growth rings? Alternatively http://mentalfloss.com/article/29879/6-oldest-trees-world
Would blast damage (something not without documentation here) and resulting conditions allow estimation of the energy and thus able to be compared or extrapolated from a known event from modern times or with more documentation?

You need not be limited to one of those either -- a combined model is often a better one.


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## Dominator211 (Dec 10, 2017)

Quantumcat said:


> If you want to do well, don't do random google searches, hit your library and include proper references from books.


this is how i want to do MY project... thanks for your input

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FAST6191 said:


> "good price for 1st place"
> If your attitude to the project was conveyed in this thread then good luck with that. In most schools of any reasonable size there is usually someone quite bored that will go all in.
> 
> If your profile is accurate and you are 14 it changes the requirements a bit compared to some other ages and skill sets, however you don't have to be limited to what they teach you (unless you are being examined on what they teach you in which case most lesser places, which is most of the world, will penalise you for colouring outside the proverbial lines, even if that is what physics says).
> ...


i should have clarified... its a competition within my class alone... not with a school with 1300+ students


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## sarkwalvein (Dec 10, 2017)

Dominator211 said:


> this is how i want to do MY project... thanks for your input


... then do it?
Nobody prevents you from taking a look into good old encyclopedia Britannica, and then further into the source of each citation, like we did back in my days.


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## Dominator211 (Dec 10, 2017)

sarkwalvein said:


> ... then do it?
> Nobody prevents you from taking a look into good old encyclopedia Britannica, and then further into the source of each citation, like we did back in my days.


ok thank you for the input


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## Quantumcat (Dec 10, 2017)

Dominator211 said:


> this is how i want to do MY project... thanks for your input
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...


I can't imagine a teacher is going to pass an assignment with no references, or give a score much above a bare pass on one with only Wikipedia and the like references. But if course I remember that the quality of schooling in the US is not very high so maybe they don't teach you to reference at all. When I was at school, a quote from a book or website without giving the source was an automatic fail and referal to the principal (plagiarism), and no references at all was a probable fail unless the quality of the writing was very high.


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