Work, gravitational energy and the Great Pyramid

摘要

According to the Greek historian Herodotus, it took a task force of 100 000 men and 20 years to build up the Great Pyramid of Gizeh or Khufu's Pyramid. In this work we discuss an analytical solution obtained in the framework of basic Newtonian mechanics that allows us to check Herodotus's statement. Numerical estimates are compared to more detailed calculations. An estimation of the dietary energy intake necessary to accomplish the task is also discussed.