Purpose: To
investigate how many gallons an oil tanker can carry and how large an oil
spill it could create.
1. Refer to the data chart of the five tankers. The capacity
of each ship is listed in metric tons (tonnes). Calculate the capacity
of each ship in gallons. Dwt stands for deadweight tonnes. Deadweight
is the weight required to fill a tanker.
2. If one pint of oil can produce a slick about one acre in size,
how many square kilometers could be covered is each tanker lost half its
capacity in an oil spill?
Question
How does the size of the smallest oil spill compare to the size of Rhode Island?
Data Chart
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| DWT | Width | Draft (ft.) | Length (ft.) |
| 20,000 | 72 | 30 | 590 |
| 100,000 | 135 | 50 | 890 |
| 200,000 | 165 | 60 | 1085 |
| 400,000 | 197 | 85 | 1215 |
| 550,000 | 207 | 95 | 1345 |
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DWT stands for deadweight tonnage: the actual weight in tons
required to bring a vessel down to its load line from the light condition.
(U.S. Coast Guard)
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