1/10,000th Scale World
1/10,000th Scale World
[At the top of the image, inside the panel, a large title is floating in the air.] RULES
For visitors to my 1/10,000th scale world
1 meter = 10 km   1 ft = 10,000 ft ~ 2 miles
[Each of the following rules is written near a character or point of interest on the map.]
[Two small dots with thin lines coming out of them horizontally are in the air near Cueball, who is brushing them off.] Watch out for airliners cruising near shoulder level
[Small mountains are seen near the left edge of the screen, by Cueball's feet.] Trip hazard: Appalachian Mountains
[A young Hairy is climbing on mountains reaching approximately Cueball's waist.] Do not stand or climb on Mt. Everest
[Under the water, a small bump in the ground expells bubbles.] Caution: Hydro-thermal vents underfoot
[Science Girl stands shoulder-deep in the ocean, peering down into the trench below.] Children must be supervised while in the ocean, especially near trenches
[Megan's hand is extended, and lightning from the cloud is jumping to her hand.] Danger: positive lightning! Do not touch cloud tops
[Ponytail sits near some mountains, with a dotted line in the air stretching across her forehead.] Avoid hypoxia by regularly sitting to bring your lungs below the death zone
[A blob-shaped thing with wiggly grey texture lines drawn all over is underground.] Do not dig near Yellowstone
[A second Cueball is jumping in the air, a hand reached back, in position to smack a weather balloon.] Please do not smack weather balloons
[Some very tiny vertical lines extend from the ground.] Be careful not to step on cities with especially pointy towers, like Toronto, Seattle, and Dubai
Megan, who is touching the top of a cloud, appears to be standing on top of the ocean, but as other characters are visibly either in front of hills and mountains or standing upon their slopes, it is likely that she is stood upon the ground (at an imperceptible height above 'local' sea-level) on or just beyond a shoreline located in the almost mythical third dimension.

This comic is the first in the Scale World series.
Large objects (cars, airplanes, etc.) are often reproduced as scale models , which are proportionally smaller physical models of the original objects.  The scale of such a model is typically expressed as the ratio of the size of the model (the first number) to the size of the original object (the second number). For example, a 1/10,000th scale model means that 1 meter in the model represents 10,000 meters in the original object. The same applies to maps and globes . What Randall has here, though, is neither a map nor a model but a seemingly complete copy of Earth , at a 1:10,000 scale. Various features and warnings are labeled.
Miniature parks , also known as model villages, are tourist attractions around the world of a scale between 1:9 and 1:72.  For example, the finale of the movie Hot Fuzz features a battle amongst a miniature of the streets and buildings seen so far in the film.  Normally a miniature park would feature a representation of one geographical location rather than a geologically/technologically accurate depiction of our current planet. Whether or not Randall is aware of it, the reputed largest outdoor relief map in the world is set out at a horizontal scale of 1:10,000.
Real-world phenomena are reproduced at scale, for humorous effect. A real 1/10,000th scale "Earth" would have a diameter of less than a mile, and a surface area of around 2 square miles, the approximate dimensions of a medium-sized asteroid. On such an object, constrained by known physics, there would be no air, standing water, weather, or large magma bodies, and any sort of rough-housing would irrecoverably catapult the visitor into space.
Normally in a miniature model, most warnings try to prevent the visitors from accidentally doing something cataclysmic to the model. Likewise, the "ocean play area rules" in the title text tell visitors not to create any megatsunamis , which could conceivably be induced by a cannonball dive. But as digging seems to be discouraged mainly where it causes volcanoes to break out, the visitors seem to be given far greater freedom than usual.
Visitors are also instructed not to try to pry the model of the wreck of the Titanic off the ocean floor.  In our world, the wreck is at a depth of 12,500 feet, which would be 1 foot and 3 inches in Randall's model world.  The Titanic was over 882 feet long, but the ship split in half as she sank, and now lies in two pieces about a third of a mile apart.  Randall's model would have two pieces about a half-inch in size separated by about two inches.  If the models are rusted and sunk in mud just like the real wreck is, trying to pry them loose would certainly damage them, but all of Randall's other rules seem to be about preventing harm to guests, not preventing damage to the model, so maybe he just doesn't want guests bending over and exerting themselves in the water where they could slip, submerge their faces, and be at risk of drowning.
Scale models, and the problems with them, were the subject of 878: Model Rail . In general, illustrating relative scale is a recurring subject on xkcd. This comic is also somewhat reminiscent of 941: Depth Perception .
[At the top of the image, inside the panel, a large title is floating in the air.] RULES
For visitors to my 1/10,000th scale world
1 meter = 10 km   1 ft = 10,000 ft ~ 2 miles
[Each of the following rules is written near a character or point of interest on the map.]
[Two small dots with thin lines coming out of them horizontally are in the air near Cueball, who is brushing them off.] Watch out for airliners cruising near shoulder level
[Small mountains are seen near the left edge of the screen, by Cueball's feet.] Trip hazard: Appalachian Mountains
[A young Hairy is climbing on mountains reaching approximately Cueball's waist.] Do not stand or climb on Mt. Everest
[Under the water, a small bump in the ground expells bubbles.] Caution: Hydro-thermal vents underfoot
[Science Girl stands shoulder-deep in the ocean, peering down into the trench below.] Children must be supervised while in the ocean, especially near trenches
[Megan's hand is extended, and lightning from the cloud is jumping to her hand.] Danger: positive lightning! Do not touch cloud tops
[Ponytail sits near some mountains, with a dotted line in the air stretching across her forehead.] Avoid hypoxia by regularly sitting to bring your lungs below the death zone
[A blob-shaped thing with wiggly grey texture lines drawn all over is underground.] Do not dig near Yellowstone
[A second Cueball is jumping in the air, a hand reached back, in position to smack a weather balloon.] Please do not smack weather balloons
[Some very tiny vertical lines extend from the ground.] Be careful not to step on cities with especially pointy towers, like Toronto, Seattle, and Dubai
Megan, who is touching the top of a cloud, appears to be standing on top of the ocean, but as other characters are visibly either in front of hills and mountains or standing upon their slopes, it is likely that she is stood upon the ground (at an imperceptible height above 'local' sea-level) on or just beyond a shoreline located in the almost mythical third dimension.
