Talk:2205: Types of Approximation

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 21:07, 20 September 2019 by 172.68.59.120 (talk)
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The cosmologist is probably using Fermi's a la What-If 84: Paint the EarthOhFFS (talk) 20:34, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

As a physics Phd (though not working in astrophysics), approximating pi to 1 is not all that bad. Especially when the measurable quantities that go into the calculation usually have huge error bars.--172.68.59.120 21:03, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

Using natural units (setting c=hbar=1) is different from setting pi to 1. Using different units is always allowed and not an approximation. Setting pi to 1 on the other hand, is an approximation and is only justifiable if the other quantities in the calculation have huge uncertainty. --172.68.59.120 21:07, 20 September 2019 (UTC)