On 2012-04-25 11:02, Joerg Arndt wrote:
* rcs@xmission.com <rcs@xmission.com> [Apr 25. 2012 19:54]:
Today's XKCD cartoon has a nice collection of approximations.
There's the ancient expression 6 pi^5 for the mass ratio of the proton to the electron, and the more accurate (e^8 - 10)/phi. Robert Munafo & REIS are at least partially responsible.
Rich
Already made it into the OEIS: https://oeis.org/A073009
8-)
P.S.: my personal approximation for "seconds in a year" if Pi*10^7
[...]
Beneath the strip, Munroe remarks Title Text: Two tips: 1) [...], and 2) if you ever find yourself raising log(anything)^e or taking the pi-th root of anything, set down the marker and back away from the whiteboard; something has gone horribly wrong. I remark http://www.tweedledum.com/rwg/idents.htm (1st formula). --rwg