Differences between estimation and approximation?

Answer 1

es·ti·ma·tion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (st-mshn)
n.

The act or an instance of estimating.
The amount, extent, position, size, or value reached in an estimate.
An opinion or a judgment.
Favorable regard; esteem.


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Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


estimation

n 1: an approximate calculation of quantity or degree or worth; "an estimate of what it would cost"; "a rough idea how long it would take" [syn: estimate, approximation, idea] 2: a document appraising the value of something (as for insurance or taxation) [syn: appraisal, estimate] 3: the respect with which a person is held; "they had a high estimation of his ability" [syn: estimate] 4: a judgment of the qualities of something or somebody; "many factors are involved in any estimate of human life"; "in my estimation the boy is innocent" [syn: estimate]


ap·prox·i·ma·tion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-prks-mshn)
n.
The act, process, or result of approximating.
Mathematics. An inexact result adequate for a given purpose

Answer 2

Estimation is kind of like an educated guess. It may be based on a survey or a small study with a representative group. An example of this is the estimation that there are 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Nobody knows for sure so that is an educated guess. Approximation is more like rounding a number. Everyone in school learns that the earth is 93,000,000 miles from the sun. This is an approximation because it is not exactly that distance but most kids couldn't remember the distance down to the exact mile. 93,000,000 is considered close enough.

Answer 3

Estimation is the calculated approximation of a result which is usable even if input data may be incomplete, uncertain, or noisy.

In statistics, see estimation theory, estimator.

In mathematics, approximation or estimation typically means finding upper or lower bounds of a quantity that cannot readily be computed precisely. While initial results may be unusably uncertain, recursive input from output, can purify results to be approximately accurate, certain, complete and noise-free.

In project management (ie. for engineering), accurate estimates are the basis of sound project planning, and are a critical component of . Many process which have been developed to aid engineers in making accurate estimates, such as
compartmentalization (ie. breakdown of tasks), structured planning, educated assumptions, identifying dependencies, examining historical data, estimating each task, and documenting the results
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An approximation is an inexact representation of something that is still close enough to be useful. Although approximation is most often applied to numbers, it is also frequently applied to such things as mathematical functions, shapes, and physical laws.

Approximations may be used because incomplete information prevents use of exact representations. Many problems in physics are either too complex to solve analytically, or impossible to solve. Thus, even when the exact representation is known, an approximation may yield a sufficiently accurate solution while reducing the complexity of the problem significantly.

For instance, physicists often approximate the shape of the Earth as a sphere even though more accurate representations are possible, because many physical behaviours — e.g. gravity — are much easier to calculate for a sphere than for less regular shapes.

The problem consisting of two or more planets orbiting around a sun has no exact solution. Often, ignoring the gravitational effects of the planets gravitational pull on each other and assuming that the sun does not move achieve a good approximation. The use of perturbations to correct for the errors can yield more accurate solutions. Simulations of the motions of the planets and the star also yields more accurate solutions.

The type of approximation used depends on the available information, the degree of accuracy required, the sensitivity of the problem to this data, and the savings (usually in time and effort) that can be achieved by approximation.

Answer 4

Estimation is a prediction of a measurement. For example it can be a length of the room you are in. By knowing the length of a metre, you can predict how many metres there maybe. An estimation could be either very close to the real amount or way off... it depends on the experience of the estimator.

An average is different. Now if we measure something 3 times and get three different readings... we need to know which one to carry on using. To do that you need to add up all three reading and then divide it by three to get the average.

Answer 5

An estimation is a guess, done with the actual answer is not know. Such as "I think gas will be around $3.10 a gallon tomorrow".
An approximation is when you know the answer, but "round it off". Such as "gas was $3.10 a gallon", when it was actually $3.10 and 9/10 a gallon.

Answer 6

Estimation is a guess based on prior knowlege.Approximation is just a individual set of criterea within a predetermined range of a given answer.

Answer 7

approximation - you are saying that the answer is about......
estimation - you are estimating the answer to be

Answer 8

Extamation is a rough idea or guess and approxamation is a definate answer(hang on is that word in the dictionary?)

Answer 9

there is no difference. they're synonyms of each other