Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
303,000
pucks
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
An NHL rink is 200 feet by 85 feet, so about 17,000 square feet. How many pucks fit in one square foot? A puck is 3 inches across, so four across and four down.
- Rink area
- ~17,000 ft²
- Pucks per square foot
- 4 × 4 = 16
- 17,000 × 16
- ≈ 272,000
An NHL rink is about 60 meters by 26 meters, so roughly 1,600 square meters. How many pucks fit in one square meter? A puck is 7.5 centimeters across, so 13 across and 13 down.
- Rink area
- ~1,600 m²
- Pucks per square meter
- 13 × 13 ≈ 170
- 1,600 × 170
- ≈ 270,000
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- NHL rink (200 x 85 ft, 28 ft corner radius)
- ≈ 16,300 ft² = 2,350,000 in²
- Area of one puck (3 in across)
- ≈ 7.07 in²
- Hexagonal packing efficiency
- × 0.91
- 2,350,000 ÷ 7.07 × 0.91
- ≈ 303,000
Reference cited by Fermi: NHL Official Rules rink specifications (200 x 85 ft surface, 28 ft corner radius; puck 3 in diameter)
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