3QUESTION 3 OF 3
Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
764
hours
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
A Bible is a thick book, maybe 1,200 pages of small type with about 600 words on a page. How fast can you write neatly by hand? Maybe 15 words a minute.
- 1,200 pages × 600 words
- ≈ 720,000 words
- Writing speed
- ÷ 15 a minute
- 48,000 min ÷ 60
- ≈ 800 hours
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- Letters in the King James Bible
- 3,116,480
- Average adult copying speed
- ÷ 68 letters a minute
- ≈ 45,800 min ÷ 60
- ≈ 764 hours
Reference cited by Fermi: KJV's 3,116,480 letters at 68 a minute, the average adult copying speed (ADVANCE for Occupational Therapy)
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