Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
14
cans
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
The easiest place to start is your own blood, about 5 liters in an adult. How big is a soda can? A bit over a third of a liter, so call it 3 cans to the liter.
- Blood in an adult
- ≈ 5 L
- Cans per liter
- × 3
- 5 × 3
- ≈ 15 cans
Blood drives like to say an adult holds about 10 pints. A pint is 16 ounces, so that is 160 ounces. How many 12 ounce cans is that? A little over 13.
- Blood in an adult
- ≈ 10 pints
- 10 × 16 oz
- = 160 oz
- 160 ÷ 12
- ≈ 13 cans
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- Blood in an average adult (Red Cross: 1.2 to 1.5 gal for a 150 to 180 lb adult)
- ≈ 5 L
- One can
- 355 ml
- 5,000 ÷ 355
- ≈ 14 cans
Reference cited by Fermi: American Red Cross (1.2 to 1.5 gallons of blood in a 150 to 180 lb adult) and the standard medical average of about 5 liters
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