3QUESTION 3 OF 3
Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
10
kilograms
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
A million in hundreds is 10,000 bills. How heavy is one? About the same as a paperclip, call it a gram.
- €1M ÷ €100
- 10,000 bills
- One bill
- × 1 g
- 10,000 g
- ≈ 10 kg
A million in hundreds is 10,000 bills, which banks bundle into 100 stacks of 100. How heavy is one stack? About like a deck of cards, call it a quarter pound.
- €1M ÷ €100
- 10,000 bills
- In stacks of 100
- 100 stacks
- × ¼ lb a stack
- ≈ 25 lb
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- €1,000,000 ÷ €100
- = 10,000 bills
- Weight of one €100 note (OeNB)
- ≈ 1 g
- 10,000 × 1 g
- = 10 kg
Reference cited by Fermi: Oesterreichische Nationalbank, euro banknote specifications (a €100 note weighs about 1 gram)
How close was your guess?
Your comparison will appear here.
Compare by ratio: divide the larger number by the smaller one. The closer to 1×, the better.