1QUESTION 1 OF 3
Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
4,810
miles
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
Think about the flight. How long is New York to Rio? It's an overnight trip, call it 10 hours, and a jet cruises at about 500 mph.
- Flight, New York to Rio
- ≈ 10 hours
- Jet speed
- × 500 mph
- 10 × 500
- ≈ 5,000 miles
Think about the flight. How long is New York to Rio? It's an overnight trip, call it 10 hours, and a jet cruises at about 900 km/h.
- Flight, New York to Rio
- ≈ 10 hours
- Jet speed
- × 900 km/h
- 10 × 900
- ≈ 9,000 km
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- Statue of Liberty
- 40.6892° N, 74.0444° W
- Christ the Redeemer
- 22.9519° S, 43.2106° W
- Great-circle distance (WGS-84 ellipsoid)
- ≈ 4,806 miles (7,735 km)
- Rounded to the nearest 10
- ≈ 4,810 miles
Reference cited by Fermi: Great-circle distance between the statues' Wikipedia coordinates; Travelmath puts NYC to Rio at 4,803 mi
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