how to get good at estimating & figure out things by ourselves?

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" For every complex question out there, there is an answer that is clear, simple and unimaginative. That is what our phone/computer gives us (the easy way out) just.. 'clear factual data'. The chances are its not at all new & certainly not creative! 
That is why we have to be really judicious about our use of the smartphones, we can't allow them to start thinking for us. We don't need to be a Physicist to figure out things by ourselves. "
-  Chris Wire -

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University of Canterbury College of Engineering : We are at Dr Phil Wilson's class : How does accurate estimation and scientific notation give powerful insight into questions ranging from the practical to the bizarre. What is the length of toilet paper used annually in NZ?
How much land do we really need to house the population of the world?

1 of 7 :: how to solve a fermi problem:  University of Canterbury

1. What are the assumptions or factors?

2. How big are the factors?
Take the geometric mean of each under/over estimate pair
(Geometric mean = multiply numbers and take the Square root).
Example: Geometric Mean of 2 and 18 = √(2 × 18) = 6

3. Order of magnitude (rounding, scientific notation)

4. Interpret and compare with known quantities. 

5. Go back and question your assumptions!
(which of those assumptions could I have changed? Which of my answers might be a bit unreliable that influences my final answers). 

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Ask " Why is my answer different from someone else's" .. Is it because we made different assumptions? or is it because we estimated those numbers differently?
It forces us to question our assumptions and check our values of things.

6. Refine each step.

​" The key thing in science in general is to question our assumptions and check our results and answers. "

​Scientists often look for Fermi estimates of the answer to a problem before turning to more sophisticated methods to calculate a precise answer. This provides a useful check on the results: where the complexity of a precise calculation might obscure a large error, the simplicity of Fermi calculations makes them far less susceptible to such mistakes.

For every complex question out there, there is an answer that is clear, simple and unimaginative!

We have to be really judicious about our use of the smartphones, we can't allow them to start thinking for us.

Before the graphing calculator, the slide rule was the archetypal instrument for engineering students. Do you know what a slide rule is or how to use it?

MIT Alumni Association Presents ::

"Do college students know what a slide rule is or how to use it? They're about to show us".

* No Slide rule handy? Don't worry. To use a "virtual slide rule" Go Here..

Riemann sum that we learned in Calculus AB is really an 'approximation of the area' under a mathematical curve between two X values.

​This area is approximated using rectangles that have a width of Delta X, which is chosen, and a height that is derived from the function f(X) given in the question Learn more..

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How to carry out order of magnitude estimations based on very rough estimates for values

2 of 7 :: A clever way to estimate enormous numbers : Power of 10/order of

​magnitude

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3 of 7 :: IT'S TOO EASY TO NEGLECT THE POWER OF OUR MINDS!

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4 of 7 :: slide rules & their history

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5 of 7 :: slide rules & class of 2019 M.I.T

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6 of 7 :: approximations in calculus :: AP calculus

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7 of 7 :: order of magnitude

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