Are There More Doors or More Wheels? You Better Start Counting!

Doors and wheels are a part of our daily lives and we see them almost everywhere, but have you ever asked yourself: Are there more doors or more wheels in the world? This simple, yet fun question sprung up on TikTok and has turned into a heated debate among students. Some may say that there are more wheels because of car wheels, suitcases and even strollers. But then others argue that there are more doors because of cabinet doors and houses. While thinking about it, there seems to be an infinite number of both. Is there even a true answer to this question? I asked some students to share their thoughts so we can finally get to the bottom of this. 

Interview #1: Eliana Freeman

Are there more doors or wheels in the world?

“There are definitely more doors. There are about 4 billion buildings in the world and 1 building has at least 6 doors. But there are only 2 billion cars and cars have 4 wheels. Also it’s easier to make a door than a wheel, you can get a cardboard box and stick it between two sticks and tada… it’s a door. But a wheel requires tech knowledge and who has that?”

Cars do have only 4 wheels, but have you ever considered trains?

“I think the amount of buildings exceed the amount of trains there are in the world, also there are sliding doors on trains. I’m not sure if it counts but if it does then it adds a lot more doors. Plus there are emergency exits on trains as well.”

There are also billions of toy cars being made each year, if you add that to the amount of cars won’t it exceed the amount of doors?

“Some toy cars are built with doors as well, so if there were 2-4 doors it would match the amount of toy wheels.”

Interview #2: Saanya Chaudhary

Are there more doors or wheels in the world?

“Doors, because when we go into houses and apartments they are filled with doors.”

What about cars? There are billions of mass produced cars every year and they have 4 wheels. 

“Yeah, but cars have doors too. Each of them have at least 4 doors.” 

When you are counting wheels are you taking into account ferris wheels and windmills or are you only thinking of car wheels? 

“I take into account wheels that actually move something. For example a suitcase or a trashcan on wheels. Its a circular object that revolves around an axis and is fixed below a vehicle. So things such as ferris wheels do not count, while doors have a bigger variety.”

Interview #4: Zelda Vakhovsky

Are there more doors or wheels in the world?

“I think there are more wheels, there are more different types of wheels that can be used for anything, more so than doors, you know what I mean?”

What kind of different uses?

“Like there are car wheels, there are small wheels for chairs, smaller wheels for smaller machines, cog wheels and so on. Meanwhile with doors I feel like there’s not as many.”

What about apartment buildings?

“There’s obviously many doors in apartment buildings,  but inside those homes people can own different things like rolling chairs, vacuum cleaners, rolling tables and that multiplied by the amount of apartments easily accounts to more wheels than doors.” 

My input

I personally think that there are more doors than wheels. If you just look at all of the apartment buildings in New York City, each floor has doors that lead to people's rooms. That's not all! Inside people’s apartments there are even more doors like closet doors, refrigerator doors, and cabinet doors. If you multiply that by all the buildings in New York City, plus in other cities, then the amount of doors becomes infinite.  

Expert Opinion

A poll conducted by students in MIT found a majority believed there were more wheels than doors. They decided to ask their professor, Carlo Ratti, who was teaching urban studies. 

Even he couldn’t give a definitive answer, but he went with his gut and said that there were more doors than wheels. It seems hard to find an actual answer, even to a professor who studies cities, which are filled with wheels and doors. 

NBC news even interviewed an employer from UPS and asked them to count the wheels and doors of their vehicles. They came back with a verdict saying that there are 786,000 wheels and 510,000 doors. 

There are so many different doors and wheels produced everyday that this trend may never have an answer. Maybe today there are more doors, but tomorrow there could be more wheels. It depends how fast the factories produce them. In the end it’s all up to your interpretations, so what do you think?