How Many Times Does Your Heart Beat in a Lifetime?

A simple but profound Fermi problem.

Heart Rate

# Average resting heart rate (beats per minute)
resting_bpm = 60 to 80

# Average over a day (sleeping is lower, exercise is higher)
average_bpm = 70 to 80

74.8 [70.0, 80.0]

Lifetime

# Expected lifespan
lifespan = human_lifespan

# Convert to minutes
minutes_in_lifetime = lifespan * days_per_year * minutes_per_day

3.8e+7 [3.3e+7, 4.4e+7] year {time}

Calculation

# Total heartbeats
total_heartbeats = average_bpm * minutes_in_lifetime

2.9e+9 [2.4e+9, 3.3e+9] year {time}

Result

Your heart beats approximately 2.9e+9 [2.4e+9, 3.3e+9] year {time} times in a lifetime.

That's roughly 2.5-3 billion heartbeats!

Interesting Comparison

# Heartbeats per day
beats_per_day = average_bpm * minutes_per_day

108000 [101000, 115000]

Your heart beats about 108000 [101000, 115000] times per day - roughly 100,000 times!