Santa Claus and Physics - Christmas Science

Santa Claus is an essential figure to Christmas all over the world. Christmas is unimaginable without him. However, what does science say about his existence?

Santa and Science

Some physicists have once tried to calculate if the yearly mission of Santa Claus is possible. They have compared some numbers. Firstly, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there are 2,106 million children under age 18. That is, on average, 2.5 children per household. Santa would have to make 842 million stops on Christmas Eve and travel 221 million miles. To reach all 842 million stops, Santa would need to travel between houses in 2/10,000 second, which means he would need to accelerate 12.19 million miles per second on each stop. This acceleration would reduce Santa to “chunky salsa.” However, physicists have not considered that, maybe, Santa can stop time. Perhaps that is a part of Christmas magic. Or, maybe the number of really “good” children is very small? We are sure that every kid on this planet has an explanation. Numbers surely would not make them stop believing.

Santa Claus and Science