002 = Too Much Pizza, Not Enough Space

**Too Much Pizza, Not Enough Space** is the second episode of A Problem Squared.

### Show Notes

Problems featured in this episode:

* How much pizza is too much pizza?
* What is the optimal way to store shirts?
* How should Matt deal with jetlag?

Watch Bec on the Jonathan Ross show: (Link)

The Ri Lectures are on iPlayer now and the Ri channel a month later: (Link, Link)

All the images we mention are on our instagram: (Link)

### Summary

#### How Much Pizza is Too Much Pizza?

This episode's first problem was asked by Chris Patterson on Bec's Facebook page, the question being, "How much pizza is too much pizza?" Both of them agreed this was a good problem to have in multiple ways, but Bec decided to tackle the question as how much it would be to eat.

She started by looking into the average stomach capacity, and found that an average person's stomach holds 1ℓ (around 33.8 fl oz) of liquid, and as an example pizza, she went with a Dominos' Large Classic Crust Cheese Pizza, 14", 10 slices which weights about 968g (around 2.13lbs), which she approximated to 1ℓ based on water's density of 1kg/ℓ. This means that one large pizza was enough to fill one average human stomach.

She then looked at competitive eaters and discovered that they can expand their stomach to around 4ℓ or more by training with low-calorie foods to increase the volume they eat, which meant that at maximum, one could eat 4 large pizzas. This causes other side effects though, like the stomach pushing on the other organs, which could cause issues like restricted breathing.

She also consulted comedian and doctor Kwame Asante and decided that it should be based on how much one could eat in one sitting, since it is easier to determine when your stomach has had enough for one sitting versus longer term periods. Based on that, the most amount off pizzas eaten in 10 minutes was 19.25 9" pizzas, converted to 14" pizzas (by Matt) into around 7.955 large pizzas. This record was set by Geoffery Esper at the Vaughan Pizzafest in 2018.

Bec also set a poll on Twitter asking her follows how many large pizzas her followers could eat without feeling sick, with 4 options, "up to 1/2", "up to 1", "up to 2", and "more than 2". 54% of those polled chose "up to 1".

And finally, Bec ordered 3 pizzas, 1 for herself, one for Matt and one for their producer, Emma, to see if they could eat a large pizza without feeling sick. Matt ate around 7 slices, and Bec ate around 7.5 slices (having not eaten anything else that day), having reached their limit for overeating.

#### Optimal Shirt Storage

The next problem comes from Alex Brown on their Patreon, asking "What is the most optimal way to store shirts in terms of volume use?" Matt tackled this problem with an experiment. He first started by specifying that he'll be using T-shirts, since one would normally hang a shirt, and then mentioned that he brought a load of T-shirts and a 9ℓ (around 304.33 fl oz.) for an experiment.

Matt re-instated that the main issue in question was about volume used and nothing else, and he didn't feel it was enough. He felt that ease of access was also important. He would also like to have a system in his house where the shirt that is the longest unused would be the easiest to access. Bec talks about her system of figuring out which clothes she uses based on the direction of the coat hangers she uses, getting rid of or using the ones she didn't use.

Matt then explained a system he talked about in Domestic Science involving a rotation with two drawers, with the top drawer having a hole at the back, which was impractical. He also mentioned that the system of clothing stores is to put the newer stuff at the back so the older stuff would in theory be picked more easily due to it's ease of access.

Through rolling, they managed to get 15 T-shirts into the box. However, it would be hard to get the lid on the box. And through folding the T-shirts, they managed to get 12 into the box. This is compared to a control of just scrunching up the T-shirt and throwing it in, which managed to fit 9 T-shirts inside. Thus, rolling the T-shirt would be the best.

#### Dealing with Jet lag

The final problem was posed by Matt to Bec about jet lag. He said that despite being an Australian living in the UK, he never really knew how to deal with jet lag, and wonders if Bec has a solution to jet lag, and also mentions some other examples of jet lag, like his wife, who is working with the Japanese Space Agency, so she needed to be in Japan time while being in the UK.

Bec said that this was called shift worker syndrome and mentioned that a bunch of doctors, nurses, or people doing shift work experience it often. Both jet lag and shift worker syndrome happen because a shift in sleeping patterns means a disruption to one's circadian rhythms, which means that one's hormones and body not be tuned properly to the time, and is also made worse by not hydrating properly.

Bec's solution was (don't try this at home) to double-down on the things that make jet lag better. Instead of just hydrating yourself, soak your clothes in water before the plane ride. When you get on the plane, people won't want to sit next to you due to the humidity, so you have space to lie down to get sleep, which solves the two major issues with jet lag.

Matt will follow up with more after his trip to America.

#### TL;DR

Q: How much pizza is too much pizza?

* Average person - around 1 large pizza (14')
* World record - around 8 large pizzas (19.25 9')

Q: What is the best way to pack shirts?

* Based on experimenting, rolling.

Q: How do you deal with jet lag?

* Hydrate, and sleep.

### AOB & Updates

001- Matt saw someone who embroidered their Mondopoint shoe size onto their shoe on Twitter. @AlexRob2001 (Link)