Fermi question · Geography
About how many square kilometers does the Pacific Ocean basin cover?
Make a fast, defensible estimate before you reveal the reference answer. Think in factors, not exact recall.
What is your estimate?
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Reference answer
Reveal the reference answer
≈ 162 million square kilometers
Fermi estimates are judged by scale, so a reasonable approximation can still earn a strong score.
One way to estimate it
Estimate from Earth’s total surface area and the Pacific’s roughly one-third share.
- Earth surface area≈ 510M km²
- Pacific share≈ 32%
- Estimate510M × 0.32 ≈ 163M km²
Keep practicing
Try another question, or return to the daily challenge to build your personal sense of scale.