# A single pig yields how many slices of ham?



## Polednice

On average, of course. Google doesn't know.


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## Sid James

Dunno but I'll ask my local butcher when I drop by there...


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## Ukko

Polednice said:


> On average, of course. Google doesn't know.


Maybe Google doesn't know how thin you want to slice the ham?


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## Sid James

Hilltroll72 said:


> Maybe Google doesn't know how thin you want to slice the ham?


Yeah that would be a factor, just as with say bread (I mean thickness of the slices)...


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## Philip

Polednice said:


> On average, of course. Google doesn't know.


i hear this is the kind of question they might ask you in an interview at google, microsoft, etc. they give you no guidelines, so you have to guesstimate logically:

the average weight of a pig is, say 150lbs. the anatomy of pig is similar to a human, but the legs (ham part) are much shorter, perhaps proportionally half as long as humans, hence half as heavy. a human leg is about 20% of the total body weight, so that would be 20% for both legs on a pig. 20% of 150lbs is 30lbs of ham.

at 30g per slice, that's around 454 (the number of grams in 1lbs) slices.

no calculator needed.


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## Couchie

I believe Polednice's question is valid because he specifies *on average*. First, we need to determine the average thickness of a slice of ham.


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## Crudblud

Oh! He wants to know what his market value is!
He'll sell himself to one of those
Farmers
And throw his life away
Farmers
And the pork will
Fly off the shelves
EAT THE WEASELS
EAT THE WEASELS


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## Manok

Depends. Do you use the oink or not?


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## Fsharpmajor

None, if the pig has any say in the matter.


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## mmsbls

Philip said:


> i hear this is the kind of question they might ask you in an interview at google, microsoft, etc. they give you no guidelines, so you have to guesstimate logically:
> 
> the average weight of a pig is, say 150lbs. the anatomy of pig is similar to a human, but the legs (ham part) are much shorter, perhaps proportionally half as long as humans, hence half as heavy. a human leg is about 20% of the total body weight, so that would be 20% for both legs on a pig. 20% of 150lbs is 30lbs of ham.
> 
> at 30g per slice, that's around 454 (the number of grams in 1lbs) slices.
> 
> no calculator needed.


Very nicely done. I looked more into this although I can't say why. Apparently average hams (i.e. the pig hind leg portion used for ham) are 15-20 lbs for a total of 30-40 lbs/pig. ham slices are very nearly 30 grams so the math works out to roughly 450-650 slices per pig.

One of the physicists I know was asked this question on his qualifier: How many trees are cut down to make all the toothpicks used per year? The assumptions and estimates are exactly what they look for to see if your thinking makes sense.


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## elgar's ghost

About the same amount of slices as a married one?


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## Couchie




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## brianwalker

_Infinite slices_


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

The answer is four.


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## eorrific

213, with 100% margin of error.


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## Philip

eorrific said:


> 213, with 100% margin of error.


that actually means between 0 and 426. to be clever, instead you should've said 213 with no significant figures.


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## Polednice

Philip said:


> that actually means between 0 and 426.


How do you know that's not what eorrific intended?


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## Philip

Polednice said:


> How do you know that's not what eorrific intended?


actually, i think i'm gonna have to review the definitions of error, relative error, tolerance, margin of error, confidence interval, because what i said might be completely wrong.

edit: let me check


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## Lenfer

Original website > Click








Not exactly what your looking but may help put it into perspective. It really would depend on the size of the pig and skill of the butcher I would have thought. :tiphat:


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## kv466

Poley, you silly Billy! Hmm, I like to roast the pig whole and then chop it up and eat with some vinegar-based sauce.


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