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Fermi problem
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==Examples== Fermi questions are often extreme in nature, and cannot usually be solved using common mathematical or scientific information. Example questions given by the official Fermi Competition:{{huh|date=June 2023}} {{block quote|"If the mass of one teaspoon of water could be converted entirely into energy in the form of heat, what volume of water, initially at room temperature, could it bring to a boil? (litres)."{{pb}}"How much does the Thames River heat up in going over the [[Fanshawe Dam]]? (Celsius degrees)."{{pb}}"What is the mass of all the automobiles scrapped in North America this month? (kilograms)."<ref>{{cite web |title=Fermi Questions |year=2012 |last=Weinstein |first=L.B.| publisher=Old Dominion University.|url=https://www.lions.odu.edu/~lweinste/wag.html |access-date=27 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Fermi Questions |first=Richard K. |last=Curtis |date=2001 |publisher=Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario |url=https://tvsef.ca/soevents/events/puzzles/fermi_questions.html}}</ref>}} Possibly the most famous order-of-magnitude problem is the [[Fermi paradox]], which considers the odds of a significant number of intelligent civilizations existing in the galaxy, and ponders the apparent contradiction of human civilization never having encountered any. A well-known attempt to ponder this paradox through the lens of a Fermi estimate is the [[Drake equation]], which seeks to estimate the number of such civilizations present in the galaxy.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Great Silence: Science and Philosophy of Fermi's Paradox |first=Milan M. |last=ฤirkoviฤ |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2018 |isbn=978-0-19-964630-2 |oclc=1032811202 |page=95โ |chapter=3.9 The Drake equation, for good or bad |chapter-url={{GBurl|_npVDwAAQBAJ|p=95}}}}</ref>
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