An old boss of mine always impressed me by being able to do rapid mental calculations in order to show whether his latest brainwave was possible. He showed great skill in carrying out order-of-magnitude calculations, making approximations that were much faster than using a calculator. This is a skill that is hugely important both in industry, where ‘time is money’, and in the exam hall, where time is limited.
You might already know some of the tricks he would use when doing quick calculations, like saying g ≈ 10ms–2 instead of 9.81, π2 ≈ 10, 1 year ≈ 3 × 107s, and so on.
Your organisation does not have access to this article.
Sign up today to give your students the edge they need to achieve their best grades with subject expertise
Subscribe
