On the Usefulness of Bananas: A New System of Measurement

Liam Foley

17 November 2023

The inquisitive nature of the human mind lies at the core of scientific advancement. Those who are scientifically minded, when faced with unique circumstances, will often seek to understand their situation rather than simply continue as before. This tendency to make observations and to ask questions leads to a better understanding of the natural laws of the universe. Such questions have led to the creation of fire, the invention of human flight, and now, the discovery of the usefulness of bananas as a system of measurement.

The global debate regarding the imperial and metric systems of measurement has been ongoing for quite some time, since as early as 1910. The metric system is often defended as the scientific standard, while the imperial system is said to be confusing and inconsistent. The United States is the primary advocate for the imperial system, being one of only three countries which still uses it. Despite imperial units being used by so few countries, the debate over the two systems of measurement remains a topic of contention. However, the banana has recently emerged as a new alternative unit of measurement, rapidly gaining popularity upon the social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website commonly known as Reddit.

The use of the banana as a reference for measuring the scale of an object began in 2010, when a man named Andy Herald uploaded an image of a sixty-year-old safe to the social networking website known as Facebook, with a banana standing next to it for scale. The first known instance of a banana being used to measure scale on Reddit occurred in 2013, when a user by the name of “preggit” posted a photo album depicting the process of a person going to extreme lengths to package a $15.00 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card. In the final image, the photographer provides a banana for scale. Following this event, the banana became increasingly popular among Reddit users of all nationalities as a unit of measurement, and is still frequently used in 2023.

While the banana has been commonly used as a method for estimating the scale of an object, no exact system has yet been established. However, there is potential for the banana to become a universal unit of measurement, as its unique physical properties allow it to be used as a measure of multiple different quantities such as distance, mass, and volume. While the imperial and metric systems are currently more widely used, they both use different units within their respective systems of measurement in order to measure different quantities. In the case of the imperial system, each quantity is not measured by only one unit, but by many. In this respect, the banana has an advantage in that it is one unit which can measure multiple quantities and is therefore much simpler to remember. Additionally, it is more interesting to look at than metric or imperial units due to its distinctive yellow colouring and tasteful curvature.

Due to the biological nature of the banana, there are a few factors which must be addressed before using it as the basis for a new system of measurement. Variation between different species must be accounted for, as must variation between different specimens within the same species. As different species of bananas may possess different physical characteristics, this system will be based upon the Cavendish banana, or Musa acuminata, because it is the most common variety of banana consumed globally, and therefore will be the most accurate representation of the physical characteristics of a banana. However, there also exists genetic diversity within the species, causing physical characteristics to vary between individual specimens. Therefore, the average physical characteristics of Musa acuminata will be derived from a range of specimens, in order to best represent the species as a whole.

The variability between individual bananas must further be addressed as it relates to the accuracy of measurements. The standardisation of previously imprecise units of measurement is a valid approach, with a historical precedent. Some of the first units of measurement were based on parts of the human body such as the finger, the palm, the forearm, and the foot, and were the foundation of the imperial system. The foot, for example, used to have several measurements, with one being equal to twelve inches, and another being equal to thirteen inches. Twelve inches later became the standard length which is used to this day.

According to a study conducted by Mahmoud Soltani of the University of Tehran, on average, a fully ripe banana fruit of the Cavendish variety measures 200.25 millimetres in length, with a mass of 180.56 grams, and an ellipsoid volume of 156.10 cubic centimetres. In imperial units, this translates to 7.88 inches, 6.47 ounces, and 9.53 cubic inches. Using these determined values for the length, mass, and ellipsoid volume of Musa Acuminata, provisional tables for the Banana Standard (BS) System of Weights and Measures, unit multiples and submultiples, and unit conversions between systems may now be created accordingly. See table 1 and table 2.

With the appropriate tables having been created, the usefulness of Musa acuminata as a universal unit of measurement may now be demonstrated. Because the data which serves as the basis for the Banana Standard (BS) System of Weights and Measures was originally determined using the metric system, this demonstration will only be converting metric units to bananas, in order to avoid additional uncertainty being introduced by imperial units.

The object of this demonstration will be the Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet, a high performance, twin engine, multi-role aircraft which serves as the primary strike and air superiority aircraft for the United States Navy. According to the Naval Air Systems Command, the F/A-18E measures 18.5 metres in length and 4.87 metres in height, with a wingspan of 13.68 metres. It has a maximum takeoff weight equal to 29,932 kilograms, and is capable of carrying external fuel tanks with a capacity of 1,817 litres each. Its maximum airspeed exceeds mach 1.8, which, at a ceiling of 15.24 kilometres, translates to 1911.6 kilometres per hour.

The banana measurements for the physical dimensions of the F/A-18E can be found by a simple unit conversion, as can the maximum takeoff weight, external fuel tank capacity, and altitude ceiling. The formulas to determine these quantities are shown below.

Using these equations, the length, height, and wingspan of the F/A-18E are found to be 92.38 bananas, 24.32 bananas, and 68.31 bananas respectively. It has a maximum takeoff weight equal to 165,773 bananagrams, an external fuel tank capacity of 11,640 cubic bananas, and an altitude ceiling of 76.10 kilobananas.

Although it is a rate of change in distance over time rather than a singular physical quantity, the speed of the F/A-18E may also be calculated using the same basic principles. The formula for determining the banana speed of the F/A-18E is shown below.

Using this formula, the top speed of the F/A-18E is determined to be 9,546,067 bananas per hour, or approximately 9,546 kilobananas per hour.

This demonstrates the establishment of the banana as the foundation for an exact system of measurement with a singular fundamental unit, and its application to the measurement of different quantities such as distance, mass, volume, and speed. Though the application of the banana to the measurement of vector quantities has not been demonstrated by this example, its other successful applications indicate that it is possible to do so. The basic units of the metric and imperial systems cannot be applied in this way, as each of the two systems uses different units to measure different quantities.

In summary, units of the Banana Standard (BS) System of Weights and Measures are simpler to remember than units of the metric or imperial systems of measurement, as the banana is the base unit for all quantities. The banana is a universal unit of measurement which can be used to measure many different quantities, and is already used to some extent and agreed upon internationally, albeit currently on a somewhat smaller scale than the metric or imperial systems. Additionally, it is useful not only as a unit of measurement, but also as a source of potassium, vitamin C, and antioxidants, among other things. Overall, the banana is a useful object in many applications, and has the potential to become a universal system for the quantification of physical and mathematical properties.

Works Cited

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Preggit. “How to Win a Bet When You Lose a Bet.” Reddit, 11 June 2013, www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1g4a0g/how_to_win_a_bet_when_you_lose_a_bet. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023.

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Kelechava, Brad. “US Customary System: An Origin Story.” ANSI Blog, 3 June 2020, www.blog.ansi.org/2018/06/us-customary-system-history-units. Accessed 18 Nov. 2023.

Firouz, Mahmoud Soltani, et al. “Some Physical Properties of Full-ripe Banana Fruit (Cavendish Variety).” ResearchGate, Apr. 2011, pp. 3–4. www.researchgate.net/publication/236484411_Some_physical_properties_of_full-ripe_banana_fruit_Cavendish_variety.

Naval Air Systems Command. “F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.” NAVAIR, www.navair.navy.mil/product/FA-18EF-Super-Hornet#:~:text=The%20F%2FA%2D18E%20and,they%20have%20proven%20capability%20to. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023.

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