Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
40
pools
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
Build it up. Say 200 million Americans drink coffee, about 2 cups a day, so 400 million cups. At 8 ounces each that's roughly 25 million gallons, and an Olympic pool holds about 660,000.
- US coffee cups a day
- ~400 million
- At 8 oz that's
- ~25M gallons
- ÷ pool (660k gal)
- ≈ 40
Build it up. Say 200 million Americans drink coffee, about 2 cups a day, so 400 million cups. At 250 milliliters each that's roughly 100 million liters, and an Olympic pool holds about 2.5 million.
- US coffee cups a day
- ~400 million
- At 250 ml that's
- ~100M liters
- ÷ pool (2.5M L)
- ≈ 40
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- U.S. cups of coffee per day
- ≈ 400 M
- Cup size (8 oz) → gallons
- = 25 M gal
- Olympic pool
- ÷ 660,000 gal
- 25 M ÷ 660,000
- ≈ 40
Reference cited by Fermi: National Coffee Association · FINA pool spec
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