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Showing posts from January, 2018

Mount Everest is Not The Tallest Mountain

When discussing mountains, there is a huge difference in definition between ‘tallest’ and ‘highest’. Mount Everest is the highest, but the tallest mountain on earth is actually in Mauna Kea in Hawaii. When asked what the highest mountain on earth is most would have no problem identifying Mount Everest and they would be completely correct. But when asked about the tallest mountain most would probably say Everest again, not understanding that in mountain measuring terms you just asked them a completely different question. When measuring mountains there are many things to remember. While there is still debate over exactly how to measure a mountain and what even classes as a mountain, there are a few things that persist. The slope, elevation, volume, and steepness among other things all need to be taken into account but them main misconception surrounds height. Mount Everest is the highest, but the tallest is actually Mauna Kea in Hawaii. This is because ‘highest’ is defined as