Cinema, Fermi problems and general education

During the past few years the authors have developed a new approach to the teaching of physical science, a general education course typically found in the curricula of nearly every college and university. This approach, called Physics in Films (Efthimiou and Llewellyn 2006 Phys. Teach. 44 28–33), uses scenes from popular films to illustrate physical principles and has excited student interest and improved student performance. A similar approach at the senior/high-school level, nicknamed Hollywood Physics, has been developed by Chandler (2006 Phys. Teach. 44 290–2; 2002 Phys. Teach. 40 420–4). The two approaches may be considered complementary as they target different student groups. The analyses of many of the scenes in Physics in Films are a direct application of Fermi calculations—estimates and approximations designed to make solutions of complex and seemingly intractable problems understandable to the student non-specialist. The intent of this paper is to provide instructors with examples they can use to develop skill in recognizing Fermi problems and making Fermi calculations in their own courses.