3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169 That's all I know. Asimov said if you know it to this many places, (actually 35) you could figure the circumference of the known universe to within an inch. That was good enough for him (and me.) But that was back in the '60s. The known universe is much bigger now. I tried to dazzle my students with this trivia one night and one of them immediately wrote it out to 100 places. I made sure he failed the course for his impertinence! More trivia: Pi shows up in the measurement of the base of the Great Pyramid. Anybody know why?
3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693 I'd like to learn more about how to calculate this by hand. I'm going to build a pyramid in the backyard.... (no idea on the trivia question, by the way).
3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286 2089986280348253421170679821480865132823066470938446095505822317253594081284 8111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196442881097566593344612847564 8233786783165271201909145648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273724 5870066063155881748815209209628292540917153643678925903600113305305488204665 21384146951941511609.....
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bigdaddy @ Oct 7 2006, 06:59 AM) [snapback]329397[/snapback]</div> I just read this. "The numerical value of π truncated to 50 decimal places is: 3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510 With the 50 digits given here, the circumference of any circle that would fit in the observable universe (ignoring the curvature of space) could be computed with an error less than the size of a proton." That beats Asimov so I am memorizing the "new" last eight digits. 39937510, 39937510, 39937510.... That should be enough for most mundane users. (You don't do this by hand. Only with the onset of computers did the series blossom. The calculations are far too long, intricate and boring. By the time you get to 3.14159, you'll be babbling.) Trivia Hint: it has to do with how the base dimension was laid out.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alnilam @ Oct 7 2006, 12:28 PM) [snapback]329455[/snapback]</div> Does it have to do with forming a circle with some meaningful diameter with a rope, then stretching the rope out straight?
If I can believe the Discovery Channel (or maybe it was the Learning Channel) the Egyptians used a wheel to measure the base of the pyramid. A wheel on a stick, like we use to measure for marathons and trackmeets and stuff. I don't know why that makes pi part of the formula, but it does. May I assume this post has something to do with the man who recited pi to 100,000 places recently? Took him 16 hours. Sleepless man recites Pi Ultimate value of pi
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Oct 7 2006, 11:07 AM) [snapback]329465[/snapback]</div> Godiva, you ARE a cool chick! The wheel had a radius spoke of some common Egyptian measure (let's call it a yard.) When they used the wheel to roll out the distance for the base, they used integral numbers of wheel-turns, using its circumference, thus incorporating pi into the detective story. (C = 2 π R) Well done!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alnilam @ Oct 7 2006, 01:28 PM) [snapback]329455[/snapback]</div> I've just been able to approximate pi with the arctan trig function on my calculator and the Priuschat Fibonacci thread. At the moment (with PriusChat Fibonacci thread at 6765), pi approximates to 3.141093...
