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Drake Equation

The Drake equation is a probabilistic argument used to arrive at an estimate of the number of active, communicative extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy.

The number of communicating civilizations in the Milky Way equals the product of the rate of star formation in the Milky Way, the fraction of stars with planets, the average number of Earth\[Hyphen]like planets per star with planets, the fraction of Earth\[Hyphen]like planets that develop life, the fraction of life\[Hyphen]bearing planets that develop intelligent life, the fraction of civilizations that communicate and the average lifetime of communicating civilizations.

Formula

QuantityVariable["N", "Unitless"] == QuantityVariable["L", "Time"]*QuantityVariable[Subscript["f", "c"], "Unitless"]*QuantityVariable[Subscript["f", "i"], "Unitless"]*QuantityVariable[Subscript["f", "l"], "Unitless"]*QuantityVariable[Subscript["f", "p"], "Unitless"]*QuantityVariable[Subscript["n", "e"], "Unitless"]*QuantityVariable[SuperStar["R"], "Frequency"]

symbol description physical quantity
N number of communicating civilizations in the Milky Way "Unitless"
L average lifetime of communicating civilizations "Time"
fc fraction of civilizations that communicate "Unitless"
fi fraction of life­bearing planets that develop intelligent life "Unitless"
fl fraction of Earth­like planets that develop life "Unitless"
fp fraction of stars with planets "Unitless"
ne average number of Earth­like planets per star with planets "Unitless"
R* rate of star formation in the Milky Way "Frequency"

Forms

Examples

Get the resource:

In[1]:=
ResourceObject["Drake Equation"]
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Get the formula:

In[2]:=
FormulaData[ResourceObject["Drake Equation"]]
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Use some values:

In[3]:=
FormulaData[ ResourceObject[ "Drake Equation"], {QuantityVariable["L","Time"] -> Quantity[10000, "Years"], QuantityVariable["N","Unitless"] -> 10, QuantityVariable[ \!\(\*SubscriptBox[\("f"\), \("c"\)]\),"Unitless"] -> 0.01`, QuantityVariable[ \!\(\*SubscriptBox[\("f"\), \("p"\)]\),"Unitless"] -> 0.5`, QuantityVariable[ \!\(\*SubscriptBox[\("f"\), \("i"\)]\),"Unitless"] -> 0.01`, QuantityVariable[SuperStar["R"],"Frequency"] -> Quantity[10, 1/("Years")]}]
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Source Metadata

  • Creator:
  • Date: 1961

Publisher Information