EGR 150 Estimation Lab

Estimation Lab

Scott & Ryan

1. Estimate the number of squirts that you can get out of the window cleaner bottle.

Ryan and I were the first to receive and inspect the glass cleaner bottle. We noticed that the amount of liquid it held was not shown on the bottle anywhere. We brainstormed many ideas to how we were going to estimate the number of squirts it would take to empty the bottle. In the end we noticed that in the spray head there was a tiny reservoir that contained a small amount of water. So we determined the volume of the bottle by splitting the bottle into two and assuming both parts were rectangles, and then took the volume of the reservoir which happened to be a cylinder, and finally we calculated how many times the volume of the reservoir could go into the bottle to estimate the number of squirts it would take to empty the bottle.   

2. Estimate the average building height on the COA Elizabeth City campus in [ft] and [m].

For this problem Ryan and I had a couple of different ideas to proceed in measuring the average building height. First we took the height of one brick and then counted each brick starting from the top of the building to the bottom. We noted that it would take a great deal of time to complete the issue that way. To save time we came up with a much faster way to do the problem. We took a 12in ruler and went back outside to do what we planned. Our plan was to be at a distance to where the ruler was the same height (if held in front of us) as the building we were measuring. Then at that same distance we would measure the door with the ruler. We would divide 12in by the size of the door in inches, then we would multiply by 7ft (average door height at COA) to get the height of the building in feet. Finally we took the average of all the buildings after completing that process.

3. Estimate the amount of grassy area in front of the  COA Elizabeth City campus in [km2] and [mi2]

Unfortunately Ryan and I didn't come in contact with each other after class to complete the next to problems as a team (I did email him my progress). First I did a quick distance check using my car I concluded that the front of the campus was .4 miles in width. I then found the width of the parking lots and subtracted leaving me with the width of the grass (.25). I found the length of the front of the campus was .2 mi so that lead me to conclude that the length of the grass area was .2 mi. I found the area in mi^2 and then converted to km^2 to get the final answer.

4. Estimate how long it would take an astronaut to travel to the moon using current technology in [s] and [hours].

Using some information found on the internet this one was the easiest by far. I researched and found that the Fastest Spacecraft to date can reach speeds around 36,000 mph. Further into my research I found that the estimated distance to the moon was around 238,900 mi. I used the T = D/S equation to find the distance in hours, then I converted hours into seconds to complete the problem.