Answer to the Problem of the Week
for the week of April 3, 2006

World Population Problem

If the world population of 5.5 billion people were gathered together in one spot, how large an area would we cover?

Allow each person a 2 foot by 2 foot patch of ground, and give your answer in square miles.


 

Solution to the Problem:

We would need 789.141414... square miles (about the size of Jacksonville, Florida). The total area of Jacksonville is 874.3 square miles, 757.7 square miles excluding water. The population of Jacksonville is 736,000.

Multiply 5.5 billion by 4 square feet to get 22,000,000,000 square feet.
Then divide this number by the number of square feet in a square mile
(which is 5,280 x 5,280 or 27,878,400). Your answer is 789.14 square miles.

Larry Scwartz sent in the following:
Note that if these 5.5 billion people stood in a giant square, the person in the middle would have to walk more than 14 miles (and pass more than 37 thousand people) to get outside the square.

John Funk sent in this update to the problem:
However the current world population of slightly over 6.6 Billion folks with each one occupying only 4 sq. ft. would occupy 946.97 sq miles. Even at that they could all fit into the state of Rhode Island with about a hundred sq. mi. to spare!


Correctly solved by:

1. Walt Arrison Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2. Magdy Essafty Alexandria, Egypt
3. Kunal Singh Kendriya Vidyalaya School
Happy Valley Shillong, India
4. John Funk Ventura, California
5. Emily Powell John Handley High School
Winchester, Virginia
6. Tristan Collins Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia
7. Tom Marino California
8. Laura Minnis Harrisonburg High School
Harrisonburg, Virginia
9. James Alarie University of Michigan -- Flint
Flint, Michigan
10. Sagar Patel Brookstone School
Columbus, Georgia
11. Rick Titus Nebraska
12. Elvis Nguyen Lakeridge High School
Lake Oswego, Oregon
13. David & Judy Dixon Bennettsville, South Carolina
14. Christopher March Winchester, Virginia
15. Julianne Harris John Handley High School
Winchester, Virginia
16. Charles Washington John Handley High School
Winchester, Virginia
17. Sharina Smith Newport News, Virginia
18. Heather Brown John Handley High School
Winchester, Virginia
19. Larry Schwartz Norwalk, Connecticut
20. Cerena Uttal John Handley High School
Winchester, Virginia
21. Michael Milanov John Handley High School
Winchester, Virginia
22. Yassee Pirooz Harrisonburg High School
Harrisonburg, Virginia
23. Garrett Hix Brookstone School
Columbus, Georgia
24. Ben Bassett Washington Township High School
Sewell, New Jersey
25. Chantel Walker Mountain View HIgh school
Mountain View, Wyoming
26. Cassie Ayres ----------
27. Andrew Dau South O'Brien High School
Gaza, Iowa
28. Joseph Santine ----------
29. Tom Robb John Handley High School
Winchester, Virginia