There’s no replacement…More honey
There’s no replacement …for displacement
We know a gallon of water weight 8.33 pounds and contains 128 liquid ounces. But how about its displacement? Well it’s 231 cubic inches. That’s a nugget of knowledge that’s at least as important as knowing its weight (which we use to calculate the concentration of our detergents in it).
In addition to other uses, that displacement number comes in handy to calculate how much detergent we’ll need to put in a pot sink, or in that mop pail.
Let’s start with that sink and to do that, we need to know it’s volume. If we multiply (in inches) its’ height times its’ width and then again by its filled depth, we’ll get its capacity in cubic inches. As an example, if it’s 20” X 20” X 12”, then its working capacity is 4,800 cubic inches. Dividing that by the 231 cubic inches a gallon of water displaces, we get 20.77 gallons (4,800 / 231 = 20.77).
If it’s a circular container the math is a bit more complicated since we first need to know the area of the circle of its’ base and then its’ filled height.
For those who remember high school math, the formula for the area of a circle is Pi (3.14) times the radius of the circle squared. If the diameter is 14 inches, the radius is seven inches. Seven squared, (or 7 X 7) is 49. Multiply 49 times 3.14 and you get 154 square inches of area. If the vessel is filled to 12 inches, multiply 154 X 12 and we get 1,847 cubic inches. Dividing that total by 231 and we know it holds eight gallons.
Next up: Reviewing that concentration formula.
More honey…Less vinegar
As managers of both others and or just our territories we’re prone to be a bit impatient and maybe even occasionally pushy. Things and people are often slower to react to our efforts and requests than we’d like.
And while it’s understandable that we find that tiresome, expressing our frustration probably isn’t the best choice. It’s a bit like Winston Churchill’s comment to an adversary when he said, “Sir, you possess none of the vises I admire and all of the virtues I that abhor”. Not very persuading and the same goes for us when we’re being a bit snarky.
As we heard as kids you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Likewise our success with those we both work with and for, will be a lot more productive if we temper our natural inclinations to be little bit less so harsh.
By the way that also goes for those we live with. After dealing with a difficult customer or two, or just the general mayhem of our daily lives, it’s easy to come home and behave quite differently with the kiddos and spouse than the diplomatic way we handled that frustrating customer.