Chapter 1, Problem 52P

As a contrast between the old and the modern and between the large and the small, consider the following: In old rural England 1 hide (between 100 and 120 acres) was the area of land needed to sustain one family with a single plough for one year. (An area of 1 acre is equal to 4047 m².) Also, 1 wapentake was the area of land needed by 100 such families. In quantum physics, the cross-sectional area of a nucleus (defined in terms of the chance of a particle hitting and being absorbed by it) is measured in units of barns, where 1 barn is 1 × 10^-28 m^2. (In nuclear physics jargon, if a nucleus at a barn door, which can hardly be missed.) What is the ratio of 25 wapentakes to 11 banrs?