Useless Calculations
A Fermi problem is “an estimation problem designed to teach dimensional analysis, approximation, and the importance of clearly identifying one’s assumptions” (wiki.) Abbas Raza demonstrates some, including estimating the weight of all the air in the Empire State Building, and the future of energy consumption:
… given our current worldwided energy consumption, and the fact that it is growing at more than 2% per year, if it were to continue to grow at that rate, we will have outstripped ALL the energy coming in from the sun in less than 500 years! Pretty shocking, no? And if we took into account the solar energy that is absorbed by the atmosphere before reaching the surface of Earth, and things like that, we have MUCH less time during which we can sustain 2% growth in energy consumption.While we’re on the topic of estimation, did you know that if you estimate three or more variables simultaneously, the result will always be more accurate than if you estimate them separately? I sure didn’t until just now. (Thanks again, wiki.)
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