How Long Things Last, Frank Kendig And Richard ...  PRO

How Long Things Last, Frank Kendig and Richard Hutton, 1979

· Experts estimate that if a normal cassette tape is played about 100 times a year, sound quality will deteriorate somewhat after about 10 years. But the tape itself will play on.

· A lightening bolt lasts 45 to 55 microseconds.

· The average running shoe worn by the average runner on an average surface will last 350 to 500 miles.

· A hard pencil can write up to 30,000 words or draw a line more than 30 miles long. Most ball-point pens will draw a line 4,000 to 7,500 feet long.

· Leather combat boots have a wartime life span of six months, a peacetime life span of eight months.

· The projected life span of a baby born in the U.S. today is about 71 years, nearly double what it was at the end of the 18th century. The longest authenticated life span of a human being is 113 years, 214 days. Studies show married people live longer than those who remain single.

· A group of subatomic particles known as unstable hadrons exists for only one one-hundred-sextillionth of a second (10 to the negative 23 second)—less time than it takes light to travel a single inch.

· A 100-watt incandescent bulb will last about 750 hours; a...