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Pi
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 11:27 pm
by The Cat
It's the number you use when you are trying to find the circumference of a circle (pi * d) or the area of a circle (pi * r^2). What I really want to know is...how did mathematicians determine this infinitely long irrational number and how does it correspond with the circle?
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 12:20 am
by AJ Middleton
Pi is the ratio of the diameter of a circle to it's circumference. If you were to take a diameter and wrap it around the outside of the circle, it would go around 3 times with a little extra. That extra is the .14159 yadda yadda yadda. Thus it makes sense that the formula for circumference is pi times the diameter.
Discovering pi requires complex geometry and calculus. Let's just leave it at that.
(BTW, "Infinitely long irrational number" is pretty redundant because, well, ALL irrational numbers are infinite.)
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 8:30 pm
by give me food
Jesus Christ