An example of an everyday comparison used to explain the scale of a technical idea:
"That's the sound of America's flagship fighter jet, the F-35. There are four hundred and seventeen kg of rare earth minerals in every one made. And if you want to know what 417kg looks like: think of a grand piano."
An episode ('The Magnificent Seventeen') of the BBC radio programme /podcast 'The Scramble for Rare Earths'
Read about quotidian comparisons
The jet will contain highly refined materials, not minerals. So, perhaps this means
- 417kg of rare earth compounds, or
- materials deriving from 417kg of rare earth elements; or even possibly
- materials extracted from 417kg of rare earth ores?
Possibly the source is:
"Specifically, the report on the feasibility and desirability of recycling, recovery, and reprocessing of rare earth elements required by the conference report (H.Rept. 112-329) to accompany the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, states that each SSN-774 Virginia-class submarine would require approximately 9,200 pounds of rare earth materials, each DDG-51 Aegis destroyer would require approximately 5,200 pounds of these materials, and each F-35 Lightning II aircraft would require approximately 920 pounds of these materials."
Valerie Bailey Grasso (2013) Rare Earth Elements in National Defense:
Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress, R41744, Congressional Research Service
