13 Awesome Wolfram Alpha Tricks for the Average Person
Wolfram Alpha is a great search engine for computer geeks , but there are many computational tricks up its sleeve that will come in handy for all of us. Here are some of the most useful ones.
Instant setup and board game play time info
Most people want to know the recommended age, play time, and number of players required for a board game before taking it out of the closet. Just type in the name of the board game in Wolfram Alpha and it will bring up these details and then some. You can also enter queries such as “How long does the small world last?” And Wolfram Alpha will give you the average play time. More importantly, you can compare games like Ticket to Ride vs Small World to quickly compare player counts, setup times, play times, and more. These are all very useful if you are trying to pick something to play at night.
These comparisons work for just about every product and element of pop culture, from comics to TV shows . Heck, you can even compare fictional characters if you like.
Count the Scrabble scores before playing the word
Don’t like doing the basic math required in Scrabble? Just type in “scrabble,” followed by the word you want to score for, and you’ll get the total score along with some other possible words — that is, if scamming is your business .
Calculate depth of field, focal length and other equations of photography
Most modern digital cameras can calculate things like depth of field and aperture, but if you prefer to do things yourself (or just have an old camera), Wolfram Alpha can do most of the hard work. Enter something like “depth of field f = 1 m” and you get the f-number and focal length. Wolfram Alpha can handle basic arithmetic values for aperture, hyperfocal distance, field of view, and a number of other parameters . It can even help with things like pixel density in photos or finding the right paper size .
Decipher terms such as “second cousin” or “after deletion”
Have you ever wondered what the name of “uncle uncle uncle’s son’s daughter’s daughter” is ? It’s a second cousin , but more importantly, Wolfram Alpha can help you figure it out. Just enter whatever family tree information you want and Wolfram Alpha will map it.
Assess your blood alcohol level
First, you should never rely on Wolfram Alpha to tell you if it’s okay to drive after drinking. However, it can be used to estimate the percentage of blood alcohol . Just enter your weight, height, number of drinks and elapsed hours for a quick estimate. Remember, however, that this does not affect what you eat, your metabolism, or even the alcohol content of your drinks, so use this for fun only.
Find rhyming words quickly
Whether you’re writing your own goofy limerick, trying to add a mixtape, or justsitting and rhyming for fun, Wolfram Alpha makes it easy to find rhyming words. Just type “rhymes with” in front of any word you want .
Convert US Shoe Size to International Sizes
Whether you’re traveling or ordering from an overseas retailer and finding the perfect pair of shoes, you need to know what shoe size you have by their measurements. For moments like this, Wolfram Alpha does a great job. Enter “country shoe size in country size”, for example, “US size 8.5 mens shoe in French size” and you will receive all the information you need. He can also find analogs in shoe size and even calculate ring sizes .
Make your own food labels
Of course, you can easily glance at any nutritional label to get the basic information, but this is only really useful if you are eating one serving. But what if you want to eat, say, 48 snickers? Enter the number you want to eat, followed by the name of the dish, and Wolfram Alpha will tell you what you get out of it. More sensibly, this is ideal for situations where the serving size of a package is a quarter of what a normal person would eat and you would still like to know exactly how many calories or grams of protein you are eating.
Find out how popular the name really is
Whether you are giving a name to your child or dog, you might be curious how popular that name is in the United States. Wolfram Alpha makes it easy to compare names by simply entering them with a comma in between . Some names may need to be added “name” afterwards if they are associated with something else, such as “gandalf”. A good opportunity to find out how many more “Khaleesi” your new daughter will meet when she gets older.
Calculate inflation
Inflation is a gradual thing that most of us do n’t really notice , but it is still important to the economy and a hot topic of conversation. Enter “country, date, year” in Wolfram Alpha and you get the inflation rate, and the current dollar value from that year. So if you hear that the estate was sold for $ 20,000 in 1912, or watch an old game from 1965 in which someone won a $ 5,000 car, you will find out how much it costs in today’s dollars (spoiler: the estate is worth over $ 523,000 today, and the car was worth the equivalent of $ 39,000.)
Play a note to tune the instrument
Want to hear F # quickly, or just see exactly where it is on your keyboard? Enter any musical note and Wolfram Alpha will give you everything you need to know, from major and minor scales to MIDI notes. Click Play Sound to listen to it through your speakers or headphones.
Get tons of celebrity trivia
Fancy yourself the star of the quiz? Wolfram Alpha can help highlight this knowledge through all sorts of search parameters. You can see which groups someone was in, which movies featured two different actors, or video games released in a particular month . Heck, you can even hunt down the opening phrase of classic novels .
Find the best Pokemon
Want to compare basic Pokemon stats? Just enter the name of a pair of Pokémon and Wolfram Alpha will spit out an insane amount of information about them. You’ll get the basics like the Pokédex number and badge, but you’ll also get their physical stats and basic stats, making it a pretty solid addition to the real Pokédex.