Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
56,000
golf balls
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
Picture filling the whole inside of the car with the seats folded, roughly 3,500 liters. A golf ball is small, but the gaps around it are wasted space. How many fit in a liter? Maybe 15.
- Car interior
- ~3,500 L
- Golf balls per liter
- × 15
- 3,500 × 15
- ≈ 52,500
Picture filling the whole inside of the car with the seats folded, roughly 130 cubic feet. How many golf balls fit in one cubic foot once you count the gaps? Maybe 400.
- Car interior
- ~130 ft³
- Golf balls per cubic foot
- × 400
- 130 × 400
- ≈ 52,000
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- Interior volume (VW Golf, seats folded)
- ≈ 126.4 ft³ (3,580 L)
- Volume of one golf ball
- ≈ 40.7 cm³
- Packing efficiency (random)
- × 0.64
- 3,580,000 ÷ 40.7 × 0.64
- ≈ 56,000
Reference cited by Fermi: Volkswagen interior and cargo specs · USGA ball spec
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