To honor the start of a new school year, we bring to you the following Fermi problem: How long would a physics lecture have to be to actually kill you? Or more precisely, from Physics Buzz:
Assuming you're not in a big lecture hall and the professor shuts the door at the start of class, how long does it take for you and your classmates to deplete the oxygen enough to feel it?
The mathletes at the Buzz make a few assumptions about the classroom, but in a 16-foot by 16-foot classroom with a 10-foot ceiling, packed with 34 bleary-eyed students and one Red Bull fueled professor the answer is...2 hours and 51 minutes! Of course you'll probably be brain dead long before that point. Check their math here and then tell us why they're right or wrong, or if you've ever survied such a physics marathon. Related Content: Discoblog: ...
