With Christmas just a couple weeks away, many of us are getting ready to head back home and participate in Christmas traditions and activities with loved ones. Growing up, Christmas is a time of magic and wonder for everyone involved and Santa himself has plenty of work to do this time of year as his own deadlines approach.
Santa’s job is no small feat as he figures out what every child wants and then has to ensure the elves have enough time to make it all. Once his sleigh is packed, he then must deliver all the gifts in just one night meaning he has to fly at 600 miles per second. At that speed, relativistic time dilation kicks in—so while it’s hours for us, Santa experiences mere moments. Einstein’s theory of relativity: making Christmas possible since 1905. The drag force experienced by Santa’s sleigh would be 56 billion newtons. In comparison, you only experience 50 newtons of resistance (on average) when cycling into university. To overcome the resistance, Rudolph and the others would have to generate 54 thousand megajoules of energy per second. To fuel this, they would have to consume 7.5 billion billion carrots, which seems very unlikely given that the North Pole is just floating sheets of ice, making for less than ideal root vegetable farming conditions. However, miracles can happen in the North Pole, such as snowflakes, which are miracles of physics. Snowflakes form when water vapour freezes around a speck of dust, creating intricate hexagonal patterns that are completely unique due to their chaotic molecular structure.
If Rudolph and company improved their aerodynamics to fly in a more Supermanlike pose, it could cut their estimated food consumption goal by more than 50% and they would only need 3.25 billion billion carrots. Alternatively, if you decided to feed them a mince pie instead, they would only need 1 billion billion mince pies, so maybe leave a mince pie out for the reindeer this Christmas Eve so they get the energy they need.
If you hear bells this season, remember that everything—including you, the bells, and even Santa’s sleigh—started as a product of the Big Bang. Some of the hydrogen in your body was forged moments after the universe began. So, technically, you’re stardust dressed in an ugly Christmas sweater.
Whether it’s Santa’s time management, calculating the fuel for his journey, or the speed of the journey itself, raise a mug of hot chocolate or glass of your favourite Christmas spirit to the wonders of science at Christmas.