Rush Limbaugh has been quoted as saying the amount of oil in the Gulf from the BP spill is equivalent to a teaspoon of oil in a bathtub of water.
Needless to say, critics have accused him of being ignorant.
As it turns out, he is.
Estimates of the volume of oil spilled range from 1.7 to 2.5 mega-gallons per day. Call it 60 days since the April 20 blow-out, and we get between 100 and 150 mega-gallons total.
According to the EPA, the volume of water in the Gulf of Mexico is some 643 billion mega-gallons. Divide this into the volume of oil spilled, and we get some four trillionths of the total volume.
How many teaspoons is four trillionths of a bath tub?
Well, a bath tub holds some 50 gallons of water. A gallon is 128 fluid ounces. A fluid ounce is six teaspoons. So a bath tub = 50 * 128 * 6 = 38,400 teaspoons.
Multiply four trillionths by 38,400 and you get some 0.15 millionths of a teaspoon.
So, if it's any comfort, Rush is wrong. He is grossly overestimating the amount of oil in the waters of the Gulf by comparing it to a teaspoon of oil in a bathtub.
You'd think these radio people would learn to do basic arithmetic.
UPDATE
A teaspoon is 5 milliliters. A milliliter is 20 standards drops. A teaspoon is therefore 100 drops. So the oil spill isn't even a drop in a bucket. It's about a millionth of a drop in a bucket.
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