What are the 5 tallest mountians in the world?

Answer 1

It depends on exactly how you define "tallest."

First, let's limit the scope: we're ONLY going to concern ourselves with mountains on Earth. Olympus Mons (on Mars) literally dwarfs any Earthly mountain, but it doesn't count as far as this question is concerned (it's easier for a high mountain to form when gravity is lower).

Okay, that said: Everest has the highest elevation above Mean Sea Level at its peak. There's really no question about that (there was, at one time, but satellite measurements have confirmed that Everest is higher than K2 by a non-trivial amount: more than 700 feet).

However, some people consider Everest a "cheater". The peak at around 29,000 feet is higher than any other, they concede, but they point out that it's already got a respectable elevation at the bottom of the mountain. The "base" of Everest is about 13,800 feet on the south side and 17,100 feet on the north side, so the distance from the base of the mountain to the peak is "only" about 12-15 thousand feet, depending on which side you're measuring from. In contrast, Mt. McKinley in Alaska has a peak that's only about 20,300 feet above MSL, but instead of sitting on a plateau that's already 2-3 miles above sea level, it's on a low gently sloping plain ranging from about 300-1300 feet above sea level, so its peak is 19-20 thousand feet above its base. McKinley is a good candidate for "tallest mountain" if you measure from the base of the mountain instead of from sea level.

Still others point out that mountains on some islands have a base that's actually below sea level. Mauna Kea in Hawaii has a peak of about 13,800 feet, but its base is the ocean floor, about 3.5 miles below the surface, giving it a height above base of over 33,400 feet. It's the tallest mountain if you measure from the base to the peak and don't mind that part of it is under water.

Finally, there's Chimborazo in Ecuador. Because the Earth bulges at the equator and Chimborazo is near the equator, its peak is about 7000 feet further from the center of the Earth than Everest's despite the peak being only slightly further above sea level than McKinley (about 20,500 feet) because the water bulges too. It's the tallest mountain if you measure from the center of the Earth.

Answer 2

I don't no the 3rd, 4th and fifth but the 1st is mount Everest and 2nd is K2