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An order-of-magnitude estimate of a variable, whose precise value is unknown, is an estimate rounded to the nearest power of ten. For example, an order-of-magnitude estimate for a variable between about 3 billion and 30 billion (such as the human population of the Earth) is 10 billion. To round a number to its nearest order of magnitude, one ...
An example is Enrico Fermi's estimate of the strength of the atomic bomb that detonated at the Trinity test, based on the distance traveled by pieces of paper he dropped from his hand during the blast. Fermi's estimate of 10 kilotons of TNT was well within an order of magnitude of the now-accepted value of 21 kilotons. [1] [2] [3]
Scale analysis (or order-of-magnitude analysis) is a powerful tool used in the mathematical sciences for the simplification of equations with many terms. First the approximate magnitude of individual terms in the equations is determined.
An order-of-magnitude estimate is prepared when little or no design information is available for the project. It is called order of magnitude because that may be all that can be determined at an early stage. In other words, perhaps we can only determine that it is of a 10,000,000 magnitude as opposed to a 1,000,000 magnitude.
The template gives 0 for 0. Although, strictly speaking, this is mathematically incorrect it has been designed this way so as to be more useful in other templates. An important example of this is that when used by {} 0 °C or 0 °F is considered to be on the same order of magnitude as ±1 °C or ±1 °F respectively.
The following is a very approximate order-of-magnitude estimate of the likelihood of alignments, assuming a plane covered with uniformly distributed "significant" points. Consider a set of n points in a compact area with approximate diameter L and area approximately L 2.
Another example is Victor Weisskopf's pamphlet Modern Physics from an Elementary Point of View. [8] In these notes Weisskopf used back-of-the-envelope calculations to calculate the size of a hydrogen atom, a star, and a mountain, all using elementary physics.
This template calculates the order of magnitude of numbers within the ranges 10^300 to 10^−300 and −10^−300 to −10^300. Template parameters [Edit template data] Parameter Description Type Status Number 1 The number to find the order of magnitude of Number required See also {{ Orders of magnitude }} {{ Fractions }} {{ Fractions and ratios }} The above documentation is transcluded from ...