July 28, 2009
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If you ever wanted to know how to make a really good scientific guess as to the amount of M&Ms in a jar, this is how it’s done.
If you are too impatient to sit through a short solid state physics background lecture, skip to 3:30 and you will learn all you need to know about counting M&Ms based on a vessel’s volume and the packing fraction of the multi-colored morsels of chocolaty deliciousness.
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Last time I checked, when they have a “guess the # of M&Ms” contest, they don’t let you measure the volume of the container.. they’re also not always packed right to the top, so even if you did know the volume of the whole container, you’d have to somehow be able to know the volume of the occupied part on its own..
Good idea if they told you the volume though!
Last time I checked, when they have a “guess the # of M&Ms” contest, they don’t let you measure the volume of the container.. they’re also not always packed right to the top, so even if you did know the volume of the whole container, you’d have to somehow be able to know the volume of the occupied part on its own..
Good idea if they told you the volume though!
Last time I checked, when they have a “guess the # of M&Ms” contest, they don’t let you measure the volume of the container.. they’re also not always packed right to the top, so even if you did know the volume of the whole container, you’d have to somehow be able to know the volume of the occupied part on its own..
Good idea if they told you the volume though!
Well the problem with measuring the weight can be solved the same way he offered to solve the inaccuracy of using a graduated cylinder – increase the number of m&m’s. If you use, say, 100 m&m’s using a scale accurate to a tenth of a gram, you could estimate the weight of one m&m to within .001 gram.
Also, if you aren’t given the volume, you may be able to find it with simple equations (just measure it while they’re not looking, or memorize given lengths of your hands to find the measurements). It will always be an estimation unless you count the m&m’s – the accuracy is simply a little less if you aren’t given the measurements.