Question

4) The main hall of Grand Central Station in New York City is approximately 210,000 square feet.

(a) Estimate how many people could stand with enough room to turn around in the main hall of the station if there were an emergency which required that the station be used to shelter people.

(b) Explain how you came up with your estimate.

(c) If there are 4 million people in Manhattan, NY, on a typical workday, estimate the percentage of them that could be sheltered in the station.

(d) Explain how you came up with your estimate.

Answer 1

a) The total number of people is 209764

b)We have the average width of a human is 1.6 feet, and without loss of generality, let the base of the main hall is square, so the length and width of the hall is feet, so making a grid of squares of dimension of 1.6x1.6 square feet, we have the length can be divided into   = 458 feet, so total number of the squares is 458x458=209764

and we can fit each person in one square, so total number of people is 209764.

c)The percentage is (209764/4000000)*100=5.24%