Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
2,300,000
blocks
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
The Great Pyramid is about 140 meters tall with a base near 230 meters a side. Volume is a third of base times base times height. Each block is roughly a cubic meter.
- Volume (1/3 × 230² × 140)
- ≈ 2,500,000 m³
- Volume per block
- ÷ ~1 m³
- 2.5M ÷ 1
- ≈ 2.5 million
The Great Pyramid is about 450 feet tall with a base near 750 feet a side. Volume is a third of base times base times height. Each block is roughly a cubic yard, which is 27 cubic feet.
- Volume (1/3 × 750² × 450)
- ≈ 84,000,000 ft³
- Volume per block
- ÷ ~27 ft³
- 84M ÷ 27
- ≈ 3 million
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- Pyramid volume
- ≈ 2.6 M m³
- Avg block volume
- ÷ 1.1 m³
- 2.6 M ÷ 1.1
- ≈ 2.3 million
Reference cited by Fermi: Harvard Giza Project
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