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Hacking physics from the back of a napkin (2020)
February 24, 2020. The computational power of a humble napkin is awesome. I discuss three napkin algorithms — dimensional analysis, Fermi estimates, and random walks — and use them to figure out why rain falls, the length of the E. coli genome, and the mass of a proton, among other things. These examples suggest a napkin-based approach to teaching physics.
I discuss three napkin algorithms — dimensional analysis, Fermi estimates, and random walks — and use them to figure out why rain falls, the length of the E. coli genome, and the mass of a proton, among other things. But, as always with a good hack, our reward is applications: we will find the length of the E. coli genome; see why unmanned spacecraft aren’t programmed to avoid asteroids; explain whether you should walk or run in the rain; and finally, prove the existence of atoms and weigh them. Every single thing we did — from pendulum periods to the ideal gas law, power usage to proton mass — required, at most, a little pre-calculus math and solid command of a napkin hack.
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