Estimate the number of golf balls that can fit in a 747

Hi,

lol, the famous one. I will quickly explain the principle here and leave you the maths :)

1. Calculate the volume available in an air plane

• Central bridge : you can consider this as cylinder, and calculate its volume = lenght of the plane x pi x (diameter of the bridge /2)²
• wings : you can consider this as rectangulare volume = lengt x witdth x height

2. Calculate the volume of a golf ball

• this is a sphere, volume = 4/3 x pi x (diameter/ 2)^3

3. Evaluate the volume loss due to the spheric shape of the ball, air will fill this space

• its the difference of volume between a cube and a sphere of the same height (D) : Diff = D^3 - 4/3 x pi x (D/2)^3 
• you can as well approximate it with a % of volume loss 

Hope this helps

Best
Benjamin