1. Typical Materials Composition of a Tire This table lists the typical types of materials used to manufacture tires.

Typical Composition of a Tire Synthetic Rubber Natural Rubber Sulfur and sulfur compounds Silica Phenolic resin Oil: aromatic, naphthenic, paraffinic Fabric: Polyester, Nylon, Etc. Petroleum waxes Pigments: zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, etc. Carbon black Fatty acids Inert materials Steel Wire

2. Typical Composition by Weight This lists the major classes of materials used to manufacture tires by the percentage of the total weight of the finished tire that each material class represents. Passenger Tire Natural rubber Synthetic rubber Carbon black Steel Fabric, fillers, accelerators, antiozonants, etc. Average weight: 14 % 27% 28% 14 - 15% 16 - 17% New 25 lbs, Scrap 20 lbs.

Truck Tire Natural rubber Synthetic rubber Carbon black Steel Fabric, fillers, accelerators, antiozonants, etc. Average weight: 27 % 14% 28% 14 - 15% 16 - 17% New 120 lbs., Scrap 100 lbs.

3. Densities of Shredded and Whole Tires

APPROXIMATE DENSITIES LOOSELY PACKED 550-600 lbs/yd3 single pass DENSELY PACKED 1220-1,300 lbs/yd3

850-950 lbs/yd3 1,000-1,100 lbs/yd3 100/10Yd3

2" shred 1 1/2" shred WHOLE TIRES (PASSENGER/LIGHT TRUCK) 10 MESH- 29 lbs/ft3 20 MESH- 28 lbs/ft3 30 MESH- 28 lbs/ft3 40 MESH- 27 lbs/ft3 80 MESH- 25-26 lbs/ft3

1,350-1,450 lbs/yd3 1,500-1,600 lbs/yd3 500/10Yd3

4. Rubber weight by tire component. A tire is manufactured from several separate components, such as tread, innerliner, beads, belts, etc. This table shows which components account for the rubber used to make the tire. RUBBER PERCENT BY WEIGHT IN A NEW RADIAL PASSENGER TIRE TREAD BASE SIDEWALL BEAD APEX BEAD INSULATION FABRIC INSULATION INSULATION OF STEEL CORD INNERLINER UNDERCUSHION 32.6% 1.7% 21.9% 5.0% 1.2% 11.8% 9.5% 12.4% 3.9% 100.0%

5. Steel Tire Cord Analysis The tire industry uses ASTM 1070 and above tire cord quality wire rod in the manufacture of new tires. There are approximately 2.5 pounds of steel belts and bead wire in a passenger car tire.

The meaning of tire codes

Tire identification diagram

Tire identification diagram, light truck specific features The ISO Metric tire code consists of a string of letters and numbers, as follows: An optional letter (or letters) indicating the intended use or vehicle class for the tire: o P: Passenger o LT: Light Truck o ST: Special Trailer o T: Temporary 3 digit number: The width of the tire in millimeters, from sidewall edge to sidewall edge. /: Slash character

2 digit number: The ratio of the sidewall height to the total width of the tire as a percentage. If this is missing, it is assumed to be 82%. If the number is larger than 200, then this is the diameter of the entire tire in millimeters. Construction of the fabric of the tire: o B: bias belt o D: diagonal o R: radial 2 digit number: Diameter in inches of the rim that this tire is designed to fit. 2 or 3 digit number: Load index; see table below. 1 or 2 digit/letter combo: Speed rating; see table below. Additional marks: See subheading below.

Some light truck tires follow the Light Truck Numeric or Light Truck High Flotation systems, indicated by the letters LT at the end instead of the beginning of the sequence, as follows: The tire diameter is given for High Flotation tires and omitted from Numeric tires. o 2 digit number: The diameter of the tire in inches. o x: Separator character. 3 or 4 digit number: The section width (cross section) of the tire in inches. If the tire diameter is not given, section widths ending in zero (e.g., 7.00 or 10.50) indicate the aspect ratio is 92%, while section widths not ending in zero (e.g., 7.05 or 10.55) indicate the aspect ratio is 82%. Construction of the fabric of the tire: o B: bias belt o D: diagonal o R: radial 2 digit number: Diameter in inches of the rim that this tire is designed to fit. LT: Designates that this is a Light Truck tire. Load index and speed rating are not required for this type of tire but may be provided by the manufacturer. o 2 or 3 digit number: Load index; see table below.

1 or 2 digit/letter combo: Speed rating; see table below. Additional marks: See subheading below.
o

[edit] Load Index

The load index on a tire is a numerical code associated with the maximum load each tire can carry (i.e.: if the car is in perfect balance, each tire will hold one-forth the cars weight, however, cars are rarely ever in perfect balance). Load Index Code Pounds Kilograms 71 761 72 783 73 805 74 827 75 853 76 882 77 908 78 937 79 963 345 355 365 375 387 400 412 425 437 Code Pounds Kilograms 91 1,356 92 1,389 93 1,433 94 1,477 95 1,521 96 1,565 97 1,609 98 1,653 99 1,709 615 630 650 670 690 710 730 750 775

80 992 81 1,019 82 1,047 83 1,074 84 1,102 85 1,135 86 1,168 87 1,201 88 1,235 89 1,279 90 1,323

450 462 475 487 500 515 530 545 560 580 600

100 1,764 101 1,819 102 1,874 103 1,929 104 1,984 105 2,039 106 2,094 107 2,149 108 2,205 109 2,271 110 2,337

800 825 850 875 900 925 950 975 1,000 1,030 1,060

[edit] Speed rating codes

The code is made up of one or two letters, or one letter and one number. It indicates the maximum speed that the tire can sustain for a ten minute endurance without being a danger.

Tire speed rating codes Code mph km/h A1 3 A2 6 A3 9 A4 12 A5 16 A6 19 A7 22 A8 25 B C 31 37 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 50 60 Code mph L 75 km/h 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210

M 81 N P 87 94

Q 100 R S T U 106 112 118 124

H 130

D E F

40 43 50

65 70 80 90 100 110

V Z

149

240

over 149 over 240 270 300

W 168 Y 186

G 56 J 62

(Y) over 186 over 300

K 68

Prior to 1991, tire speed ratings were shown inside the tire size, replacing the "R" character. The available codes were SR (112 mph, 180km/h), HR (130 mph, 210 km/h), VR (in excess of 130 mph, 210 km/h) and ZR (in excess of 149 mph, 270 km/h). The ZR code is still in common use, often combined with a W or Y speed code. Tires with a speed rating higher than 186 MPH (300 km/h) are indicated by a Y in parenthesis. The load rating is often included within the parenthesis, e.g. (86Y). In some countries, tires are required by law to exceed the maximum speed of the vehicle they are mounted on with regards to their speed rating code. In Germany, tires that are not fit for a car's or motorcycle's particular maximum speed are illegal to mount unless a warning sticker stating the allowed maximum speed is placed within clear sight of the driver inside the vehicle. Some manufacturers will install a speed governor if a vehicle is ordered with tires rated below the vehicle's maximum speed.

[edit] Additional marks

There are numerous other markings on a typical tire, these may include: M+S: Mud and Snow; winter/all-weather tires with above-average traction in muddy or snowy conditions. Spike tires have an additional letter, "E" (M+SE). BSW: Black SideWall WSW: White SideWall

E4: Tire approved according ECEregulations, the number indicating the country of approval. 030908: Approval number of the tire DOT code: All tires imported into the USA have the DOT code, as required by the Department of Transportation (DOT). It specifies the company, factory, mold, batch, and date of production (2 digits for week of the year plus 2 digits for year; or 2 digits for week of the year plus 1 digit for year for tires made prior to 2000) TL: Tubeless TT: Tube-type, tire with an inner-tube Made in: Country of production C: Commercial; tires for light trucks (Example: 185 R14 C) B: Bias belted; tires for motorcycles (Example: 150/70 B 17 69 H)diagonal construction with belt added under the tread SFI: Side Facing Inwards; inside of asymmetric tires SFO: Side Facing Outwards; outside of asymmetric tires TWI: Tread Wear Indicator; a device in the main tire profile which shows when the tire is worn down and needs to be replaced SL: Standard Load; tire for normal usage and loads XL: eXtra Load; tire for heavy loads RF: Reinforced tires Arrows: Some tread designs are designed to perform better when driven in a specific direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise). Such tires will have an arrow showing which way the tire should rotate when the vehicle is moving forwards. It is important not to put a "clockwise" tire on the left hand side of the car or a "counter-clockwise" tire on the right side.

To facilitate proper balancing, most high performance tyre manufacturers in addition place red (uniformity) and yellow (weight) marks on the sidewalls of its tyres to enable the best possible match-mounting of the tyre/wheel assembly.[1]

[edit] Tire geometry

When referring to the purely geometrical data, a shortened form of the full notation is used. To take a common example, 195/55R16 would mean that the width of the tire is 195 mm at the widest point, the height of the side-wall of the tire is 55% of the width (107 mm in this example) and that the tire fits 16 inch diameter wheels. The code gives a direct calculation of diameter. Less commonly used in the USA and Europe (but often in Japan for example) is a notation that indicates the full tire diameter instead of the side-wall height. To take the same example, a 16 inch wheel would have a diameter of 406 mm. Adding twice the tire height (2107 mm) makes a total 620 mm tire diameter. Hence, a 195/55R16 tire might alternatively be labelled 195/620R16. Whilst this is theoretically ambiguous, in practice these two notations may easily be distinguished because the height of the side-wall of an automotive tire is typically much less than the width. Hence when the height is expressed a percentage of the width, it is almost always less than 100% (and certainly less than 200%). Conversely, vehicle tire diameters are always larger than 200 mm. Therefore, if the second number is more than 200, then it is almost certain the Japanese notation is being usedif it is less than 200 then the U.S./European notation is being used.

[edit] Examples
The tires on a Mini Cooper might be labeled: P195/55R16 85H "P"these tires are for a passenger vehicle. 195the width of the tire is 195 mm at the widest point. 55indicates that the height of the side-wall of the tire is 55% of the width107 mm. Rthis is a radial tire. 16this tire fits 16 inch diameter wheels. 85the load index, a maximum of 515 kg per wheel in this case. Hthe speed index, this means the maximum permitted speed, here 210 km/h (130 mph).

The tires on a Hummer H1 might be labeled: 37X12.5R17LT

37-the tire is 37 inches in diameter. 12.5-the tire has a cross section of 12.5

inches

R-this is a radial tire.. 17-this tire fits 17 inch diameter wheels. LT-this is a light truck tire.

for the BF Goodrich Radial T/A

Tire Size

Rim Tread Rev's Serv. Stock Width *Section Overall Depth Sidewall MSPN per Desc. # Range Width Diameter (in / mile (inches) 32's)

Max. load (lbs.@psi)

P175/70R13 82S P195/60R13 83S P205/60R13 86S P215/50R13 84S P185/70R14 87S P195/70R14 90S P205/70R14 93S P215/70R14 96S P225/70R14 98S P195/60R14 85S P215/60R14 91S P225/60R14 94S P235/60R14 96S P245/60R14 98S P245/50R14 93S

RWL RWL RWL RWL RWL RWL RWL RWL RWL RWL RWL RWL RWL RWL

4660 285- 4.5 4 308 6.0 8157 265- 5.5 3 305 7.0 5522 265- 5.5 2 309 7.5 9178 275- 6.0 1 307 7.5 5061 285- 4.5 8 410 6.0 4857 285- 5.0 8 413 6.5 6674 285- 5.0 8 416 7.0 5022 285- 5.5 8 420 7.0 7960 285- 6.0 4 459 7.5 8449 265- 5.5 7 402 7.0 9865 265- 6.0 9 418 7.5 5327 265- 6.0 3 434 8.0 7964 265- 6.5 4 477 8.5 5432 265- 7.0 2 486 8.5

7.0 on 5.0 7.9 on 6.0 8.2 on 6.0 8.9 on 7.0 7.4 on 5.5 7.9 on 6.0 8.2 on 6.0 8.7 on 6.5 9.0 on 6.5 7.9 on 6.0 8.7 on 6.5 9.0 on 6.5 9.5 on 7.0 9.8 on 7.0

22.7 22.2 22.7 21.5 24.3 24.8 25.4 25.9 26.5 23.2 24.2 24.7 25.1 25.6 23.7

12.0 916.0 1036@35 11.0 937.0 1080@35 11.0 916.0 1179@35 11.0 967.0 1091@35 12.0 856.0 1201@35 12.0 839.0 1312@35 12.0 819.0 1433@35 12.0 803.0 1554@35 12.0 785.0 1675@35 11.0 897.0 1135@35 11.0 860.0 1345@35 11.0 842.0 1455@35 11.0 829.0 1565@35 11.0 813.0 1675@35 11.0 878.0 1433@35

RWL 4800 275- 7.0 - 10.0 on

0 P265/50R14 98S P155/80R15 83S P215/70R15 97S RWL

536

8.5

7.5 24.5 TBD 26.9 27.4 28.0 29.1 30.8 26.0 24.2 24.7 25.2 25.6 26.1 26.6 27.1 28.0 23.9 25.5 25.9 26.7 11.0 849.0 1642@35 TBD TBD TBD

9133 275- 7.5 - 10.9 on 7 559 9.5 8.5 TBD 8.7 on 6.5 9.0 on 6.5 9.5 on 7.0 7263 285- 5.5 4 639 7.0 6724 285- 6.0 4 523 7.5 6197 285- 6.0 7 543 8.0

RWL TBD TBD TBD RWL

12.0 773.0 1620@35 12.0 759.0 1753@35 12.0 743.0 1896@35 12.0 715.0 2183@35 12.0 675.0 2679@35 10.5 800.0 1510@35 11.0 860.0 1190@35 11.0 842.0 1301@35 11.0 825.0 1411@35 11.0 813.0 1521@35 11.0 797.0 1642@35 11.0 782.0 1753@35 11.0 768.0 1885@35 11.0 743.0 2149@35 11.0 870.0 1201@35 11.0 816.0 1720@35 11.0 803.0 1830@35 11.0 779.0 2061@35

P225/70R15 100S RWL P235/70R15 102S RWL P255/70R15 108S RWL P285/70R15 115S RWL P215/65R15 95S P195/60R15 87S P205/60R15 90S P215/60R15 93S P225/60R15 95S P235/60R15 98S RWL RWL RWL RWL RWL RWL

4598 285- 6.5 - 10.2 on 2 561 8.5 7.5 7570 285- 7.5 - 11.3 on 1 145 9.5 8.5 7862 265- 6.0 4 587 7.5 6447 265- 5.5 2 487 7.0 7107 265- 5.5 2 515 7.5 6779 265- 6.0 7 510 7.5 6414 265- 6.0 8 534 8.0 5471 265- 6.5 2 531 8.5 6001 265- 7.0 3 552 8.5 8.7 on 6.5 7.9 on 6.0 8.2 on 6.0 8.7 on 6.5 9.0 on 6.5 9.5 on 7.0 9.8 on 7.0

P245/60R15 100S RWL P255/60R15 102S RWL P275/60R15 107S RWL P205/55R15 87S P265/50R15 99S BSW RWL

7172 265- 7.0 - 10.2 on 8 562 9.0 7.5 4518 265- 7.5 - 11.0 on 5 564 9.5 8.0 8856 270- 5.5 1 321 7.5 8.4 on 6.5

8800 275- 7.5 - 10.9 on 0 744 9.5 8.5 5038 275- 7.5 - 11.2 on 1 771 9.5 8.5 5341 275- 8.0 - 12.2 on 5 777 10.0 9.5

P275/50R15 101S RWL P295/50R15 105S RWL

P275/65R16 111S RWL

9389 265- 7.5 - 11.0 on 2 240 9.5 8.0 TBD TBD 8.4 on 6.5 7.9 on 6.0 8.4 on 6.5 9.2 on 7.0 9322 TBD TBD 9 7052 270- 5.5 3 365 7.5 6027 270- 5.5 7 555 7.0 8915 270- 5.5 9 222 7.5 6712 270- 6.0 5 250 8.0

30.1 TBD TBD 24.9 23.7 24.1 24.9 25.7 26.5 27.6

10.5 691.0 2403@35 TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD

P265/60R16 106T RWL TBD TBD TBD P285/60R16 111T RWL P205/55R16 89S P195/50R16 83S P205/50R16 86S P225/50R16 91S P245/50R16 96S BSW BSW BSW BSW BSW

11.0 835.0 1279@35 11.0 878.0 1074@35 11.0 863.0 1168@35 11.0 835.0 1367@35 11.0 809.0 1576@35 11.0 785.0 1797@35 11.0 754.0 2149@35

5328 270- 6.5 - 10.0 on 1 803 8.5 7.5 6671 270- 7.5 - 10.9 on 1 229 9.5 8.5 5148 270- 8.0 - 12.2 on 7 239 10.0 9.5

P265/50R16 101S BSW P295/50R16 107S BSW

*The dimensions shown are average values for tires measured on the specified measurig width. **Section width varies approximately 0.2" for every 0.5" change in rim width. *****

Tire Weight database

(Originally provided by Jesse Lee)
Tire Avon ZZ1 Avon CR338 BFG Radial TA BFG Comp TA ZR BFG Euro TA BFG COMP TA R1 BFG COMP TA HR4 Gen2 BFG Scorcher TA Bridgestone RE71
205/60/13 185/60/14 195/50/15 205/40/16 205/45/16

20 17 20.18 21.06 20.50 20.55 20.11 18.76 20.42 18 19.89

Bridgestone RE730 Bridgestone RE920 Bridgestone RE930 Bridgestone RE950 Bridgestone RE92 Bridgestone Eager Bridgestone Potenza S-03 PP Bridgestone <others> Cooper Cobra Radial GT Cooper Cobra GTH Cooper Cobra XST Dunlop SP9000 Dunlop SP8000 Dunlop D60 A2 Dunlop W-10 Dunlop GT Qualifier Dunlop <others> Falken FK06U Falken GRB Falken ZE 502 HR Falken ZE 502 VR Firestone FTX Firestone GTA Firestone SH30 Firestone SS20 Firestone SS10 Firestone (others) Goodyear GSD2 Goodyear GSD3 Goodyear GT II Goodyear HP U

15 17 18.3 17 18

? 18

20

20.7

18

17 17 18

19

18.1 20.3 17.4

17.8

19.6 18 discont' 17.0 17 ? ? 16 17 16 15 (175/70

/13)

19

18

19.0 17.6 18.1

18.1

16 19

17 17 ? 18.7 (215/4016)

? ?

Goodyear HP Hoosier Sport Car DOT Bias

? 14 14.5

Hoosier Sport Car DOT Radial

16.5

16 (195/55 / 14) 16 (205/55 / 14)

Kumho HP4 Kumho Ecsta 711 Kumho Ecsta 712 Kumho VictorRacer
V700

16.1 avail. Q3'00

18.7 18.2 19.8

? 21 (215/40ZR16) 19.95 24.29

20.0

Michelin Pilot MXX3 Michelin Pilot XGT V Michelin XGT H4 Nitto 450 Nitto <others> Pirelli P0 A Pirelli P7000 Pirelli P700 Z Toyo T1-S Toyo Proxes Z1 Toyo Proxes RA1 20 Toyo Proxes FZ4 Toyo Proxes H4 Toyo <others> Yokohama A032R Yokohama A008RS 19.97 Yokohama A008RS II Yokohama AVS Intermediate 21.66

18.74 18.09 17.6 18.3 18.7 18.6 18.1 (215/ 18.1 40/ 16)

17.6 18.3 17.4 20 17 17 18.56 19.58 16.78 18

20.88 (205 / 55/14)

19

22

19.54

discontinud (20.85)

Yokohama A520

19.84

19.84

Also see the Wheel Weight Tables

Back to the FAQ
9 January, 2003

Common Metals in Road Runoff

Lead: leaded gasoline, tire wear, lubricating oil and grease, bearing wear Zinc: tire wear, motor oil, grease, brake emissions, corrosion of galvanized parts Iron: auto body rust, engine parts Copper: bearing wear, engine parts, brake emissions Cadmium: tire wear, fuel burning, batteries Chromium: air conditioning coolants, engine parts, brake emissions Nickel: diesel fuel and gasoline, lubricating oil, brake emissions Aluminum: auto body corrosion

Abstract: Tire-tread material has a zinc (Zn) content of about 1 wt %. The quantity of tread material lost to road surfaces by abrasion has not been well characterized. Two approaches were used to assess the magnitude of this nonpoint source of Zn in the U.S. for the period 1936-1999. In the first approach, tread-wear rates from the automotive engineering literature were used in conjunction with vehicle distance-driven data from the U.S. Department of Transportation to determine Zn releases. A second approach calculated this source term from the volume of tread lost during lifetime tire wear. These analyses showed that the quantity of Zn released by tire wear in the mid-1990s was of the same magnitude as that released from waste incineration. For 1999, the quantity of Zn released by tire wear in the U.S. is estimated to be 10 000-11 000 metric tons. A specific case study focused on Zn sources and sinks in an urban-suburban watershed (Lake Anne) in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area for a time period of the late 1990s. The atmospheric flux of total Zn (wet deposition) to the watershed was 2 microg/cm2/yr. The flux of Zn to the watershed estimated from tire wear was 42 microg/cm2/yr. The measured accumulation rate of total Zn in age-dated sediment cores from Lake Anne was 27 microg/cm2/yr. These data suggest that tire-wear Zn inputs to urban-suburban watersheds can be significantly greater than atmospheric inputs, although the watershed appears to retain appreciable quantities of vehicular Zn inputs. Publisher: American Chemical Society

The atmospheric pressure on the surface of the Earth averages 101.325 kPa, with a scale height of about 8.5 km.[65] It is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, with trace amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide and other gaseous molecules

Introduction Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) is a very famous modern physicist. Under his guidance, human have created the first atomic bomb and successfully controlled thermonuclear reactions, leading the world into an atomic era. His life was very interesting, and the most well-known events concerned his ability to make order of magnitude estimation in physical problems. It is said that when first atomic bomb in the world experimentally exploded, Fermi shed paper debris at a great distance from the centre of Enrico Fermi explosion, and carefully observed the drifting distance of the debris under air pressure; after a few minutes of mental arithmetic, he estimated that the power of explosion was about several ten thousand tons of TNT. The estimation corresponds to the correct order produced by precise instrument available a few weeks later, and this surprised his colleagues a lot. Question Fermi liked using simplified problems to stimulate his students to make order of estimation in physical problems. One of the interesting problems is: "When you take a single breath, how many molecules of gas you intake would have come from the dying breath of Caesar?" For the sake of simplicity, we can assume that the molecules which Caesar exhaled in his last breath have diffused evenly to the whole atmosphere, and these molecules were not absorbed by the ocean or plants for thousands of years. Although these are not valid assumptions, they can help us forget about the complexity of the real world,

and to make elementary estimations in the simplest way. For the convenience of your calculation, we have given hints and information as follows: Hints We shall at first estimate the ratio of the gas volume exhaled in a single breath to the volume of the whole atmosphere (for simplicity, you may assume that all gases are evenly distributed in a layer which has a thickness of 50 km on the surface of the earth). Then you can estimate, in your single breath, how much volume of gas would have come from Caesar's last exhalation, and finally, with data on the density of the atmosphere and the average mass of an air molecule, you can estimate the no of molecules that the volume contains. Assume that Radius of the earth R = 6,400 km Volume of gas in a single breath ~ 1 litre Thickness of the atmosphere ~ 50 km Mass of a proton neutron = Reference: The Fermi Solution, Hans Christian von Baeyer Answer First we shall estimate the volume of the earth's atmosphere V. Since the thickness of the atmosphere is much less than the radius of the earth, we have mass of a

Density of the atmosphere on the surface of the earth

The air intake in a single breath is about 1 litre, i.e., . Assuming that the gas exhaled from Caesar's last breath is evenly distributed in the

atmosphere, we can deduce that, in a single breath, the volume of gas that one intake from Caesar's last breath is

Nitrogen is the major component of the atmosphere of the earth, and oxygen the second. Since the molecular masses of nitrogen and oxygen do not differ much, we will simply use nitrogen in our estimation. A nitrogen molecule has two atoms, each with 7 protons and 7 neutrons. Neglecting the mass of an electron, a nitrogen molecule would have a mass of

Hence in a single breath, the number of the molecules that comes Caesar's last exhalation would roughly be

i.e., when we take a single breath, we would have intake a single molecule which comes from Caesar's last exhalation. Note Some students may notice that I have only taken one significant figure throughout my calculations. Frankly speaking, I have not used a calculator in any of the calculations above. From your letters, I notice that some students have tried to perform very accurate calculations, and some of them have even made an effort to analyze the composition of air. In fact, these are not necessary, because under the many assumptions that we have used to simplify our problem (e.g. we have assumed that the density of air is uniform, which is obviously not true), it is virtually impossible to obtain an accurate answer. As a matter of fact, the spirit of the "Fermi problem" lies on training us to deal with a problem in which detailed information and calculation techniques are not

available, and yet we can still make a very rough, but barely reliable estimation to get the right order of magnitude.