b"Brownian motion | Engineer InnovationObviously, this is an extreme example. Thankfully, as engineers, we are rarely called upon to make exact predictions such as the one described above. More often than not, we are rescued by 'The Law of Large Numbers,' which allows us to make deterministic predictions about phenomena that are stochastic. While we may not be able to predict the outcome of a ten-collision pool shot accurately, we can easily calculate the bulk effect of billions of air particles randomly colliding against a wall. Extreme or not, this example does illustrate how even apparently simple engineering systems are influenced by easily neglected physical phenomena. It also demonstrates that the accuracy of a prediction depends, at least in part, on the amount of physics you capture in your model, and that capturing 'all of the physics' is rarely an option. Finally, it also explains why I am so bad at playing pool. At least, that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!n67"