Question

The Great Pyramid outside Cairo, Egypt, has a square base measuring 756 feet on a side and a height of 480 feet. a. What is the volume of the Great Pyramid, in cubic yards? b. The stones used to build the Great Pyramid were limestone blocks with an average volume of 1.5 cubic yards. How many of these blocks were needed to construct the Great Pyramid?

Answer 1

Base of pyramid, a = 756 ft

= 252 yards (1 ft = 0.333 yards)

Height of pyramid, h = 480 ft

= 160 yards

(a). For a square pyramid, we have:

Volume = $a^{2} \frac{h}{3}$

= $(252)^{2} \frac{160}{3}$

= 33,86,880 cubic yards

Hence, volume of the Great Pyramid = 33,86,880 cubic yards

(b). Volume of limestone block = 1.5 cubic yards

Number of limestone blocks needed to construct the Great Pyramid = Volume of pyramid / volume of limestone block

= 33,86,880 / 1.5

= 22,57,920 limestone blocks