Trial and Error
A way to solve things by making our best try, seeing the result and how much it is in error, then making a better try until we get the desired result.
Example: What is the square root of 10?
(In other words, what number, multiplied by itself, makes 10)
Let us try 3:
⇒ 3×3 = 9
But we wanted 10. so let us increase our guess a little. Maybe 3.2?
⇒ 3.2×3.2 = 10.24
Now we are a little too high. Maybe 3.15?
⇒ 3.15×3.15 = 9.9225
Close enough, let's stop.
It may seem very hit-and-miss, and it is! But sometimes it is a very fast and effective way to get an answer that is good enough.
In our example above maybe we wanted to make a square with an area of 10 m2, now we know that a side length of 3.15 m will work nicely.
Example: What is the square root of 10?
(In other words, what number, multiplied by itself, makes 10)
Let us try 3:
⇒ 3×3 = 9
But we wanted 10. so let us increase our guess a little. Maybe 3.2?
⇒ 3.2×3.2 = 10.24
Now we are a little too high. Maybe 3.15?
⇒ 3.15×3.15 = 9.9225
Close enough, let's stop.
It may seem very hit-and-miss, and it is! But sometimes it is a very fast and effective way to get an answer that is good enough.
In our example above maybe we wanted to make a square with an area of 10 m2, now we know that a side length of 3.15 m will work nicely.