How Many Golf Balls Fit In A Bathtub? 13824, The More, The Better

Except for the discussion about the techniques involved in golf, a common query, “How many golf balls fit in a bathtub”? Sparks quite a lot of interest among the fans and golfers.

Seeing how a small golf ball can spark many exciting questions is quite amusing. It is even more amusing to see people try to answer this question.

There are a lot of assumptions to be kept in mind before answering, which are “The size of the ball,” “The size of the bathtub,” and “Is the bathtub empty or filled.” After considering all the above questions, when calculated mathematically, you will get an exact number of balls that can fit in a bathtub.

Let’s now discuss each question in detail and find the exact answer.

Size Of A Golf Ball

A golf ball comes in different types, designs, and colors. Every player selects the ball best suitable for them and which enhances their performance.

In 1990, the United States Golf Association(USGA) and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews(The R&A) collectively agreed on a standard size of the golf ball, which is now followed.

The standard golf ball size measurements are:

• Mass of the ball: Not more than 1.620 oz (45.9 g)
• Diameter of the ball: Not less than 1.680 inches (42.7 mm)
• Circumference of the ball: 5.277 inches (134.058 mm)
• Average width and height of the ball: 1.69 inches (43 mm)
• There also are specific velocity, distance, and symmetry limits.
• The shape of the ball must not be asymmetrical.

Taking the radius of 0.84 inches, we calculate the volume of a standard golf ball to be 2.482 (2.5 approx) cubic inches. The formula used to calculate the volume of the golf ball is:

Volume = 4/3 * pi * r³ (r= radius of the golf ball)

Although there is no rule for the number of dimples present on the ball, a standard golf ball can have at most 500 dimples.

Before the 1990 agreement, the USGA had a minimum diameter of 1.68 inches, and The R&A had a minimum diameter of 1.62 inches.

Size Of A Bathtub

Bathtubs come in different shapes and sizes. Hence the number of balls that can fit in a bathtub varies according to the shape and size of the bathtub.

The number also varies if there is anything in the tub, like water, objects, people, etc. The more complex the design and the shape of a bathtub is, the more complicated it is to get an exact number of balls.

The shapes of bathtubs you can commonly find and whose volume is easy to calculate are rectangle, oval, square, and round. Here, we take an empty bathtub with a standardized shape and size to calculate the exact number of golf balls that can fit in a bathtub.

Standard bathtub measurements are:

• Shape: Rectangle or Alcove
• Length of the bathtub: 60 inches (1524 mm)
• Width of the bathtub: 32 inches (812.8 mm)
• Height of the bathtub: 18 inches (457.2 mm)

Considering all the measurements, we calculate the bathtub volume to be 34,560 cubic inches. The formula used to calculate the volume of the bathtub is:

Volume = L * W * H (L= length, W= width, H= height)

How Many Golf Balls Fit In A Bathtub?

After knowing the size of a golf ball and the size of a bathtub, we can now quickly answer the question, “How many golf balls fit in a bathtub”?

To calculate the number of balls, we need to divide the volume of the bathtub by the volume of a golf ball. Formula:

Number of golf balls = Volume of bathtub / Volume of a golf ball

Using the above formula, we can calculate the number of golf balls to be = 34560 / 2.5 = 13824 golf balls.

This is the mathematical answer, but practically, as the golf balls are spherical when stacked together, there is some space left between the balls.

So, to get the exact number, we need to eliminate this extra gap, and to do that, we multiply the answer by 0.74. Hence the final result is = 13824 * 0.74 = 10229.76 golf balls.

Rounding it off, we get a total of 10230 golf balls that can fit in a bathtub. This calculation is done keeping in mind that the bathtub is empty. If there is anything in the tub, the result may vary, and most likely, the number of balls will decrease.

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