To get a feel for how the Google calculator works, you can start by googling¹ "2+2=" and clicking on "More about calculator," located directly below the result, to learn the basics of Google equation formatting. There you will find a link to more complete instructions on how to format equations for Google, e.g., "xn" means raise x to the nth power, "sqrt(x)" means take the square root of x, etc. Return to the search bar and google "G," as illustrated in Fig. 1. Google returns "gravitational constant = 6.67300 × 10^–11 m³ kg^–1 s^–2" at the top of the page next to the calculator icon, followed by web page results for the Google query. The results relevant to this paper will always be those at the top of the page adjacent to the calculator icon; only these can be used in equations. Google has most of the fundamental constants built in, many of which are listed in Table 1.²

Figure 1.

To illustrate the use of the constants in an equation, consider the fine structure constant in which fundamental constants of quantum mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and geometry are contained. We will actually google the reciprocal of the fine structure constant, as this has a well-known simple value. Google "(4 * pi * electric constant * hbar * c) / (elementary charge2)=" to find that it is equal to "137.035984." We could have just googled "1 /fine-structure constant" to find the answer.³ Note, we were able to confirm that our calculation not only matches the acceptable numerical value of the fine structure constant, but it is unitless as well.