Let's talk about Pi!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Delirious
  • 49 comments
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3-Wheel Drive
Close, it's actually the inverse number, 22/7, or about 3.1429.
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I can't even correctly execute a bad joke about Pi. I wish I were a drunk so that I could drown my sorrows away in a gallon of cheap Detroit vodka.
 
We celebrated "Pi Day" in high school (March 14). People brought in different kinds of pie and the hallways were lined up with hundreds of digits of pi. We also had a contest on who could remember (and recite) the most digits of pi. Lame? Yes. But it was better than regular Calc. class.
 
dougiemeats
Lame? Yes. But it was better than regular Calc. class.
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Truer words have never been spoken.
cardude2004
Well, significant digits was something we talked about for a day in science, and then went on.
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My high school chemistry teacher told us that sig figs were important, and my chemical engineering professors agreed :)
 
Actually, pi is definite - when mucking about on my schools (supposedly) high-speed i'net (I was meant to be doing work at the time...) I discovered that a group of Japanses scientists mistakenly stumbled on the final digit of pi...

at about the 3 trillionth decimal place (or something): 6.
 
Because everything you see on the internet is, without question, true.
 
Besides, how does one mistakenly stumble upon the final digit of a number like that anyway, when people have devoted entire supercomputers to that sole purpose? I call shenanigans.

I believe the current record is 1.24 trillion places.
 
blue_sharky39
Actually, pi is definite - when mucking about on my schools (supposedly) high-speed i'net (I was meant to be doing work at the time...) I discovered that a group of Japanses scientists mistakenly stumbled on the final digit of pi...

at about the 3 trillionth decimal place (or something): 6.
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So what was the whole point of figuring out Pi to its final digit...its not like it saves mankind later on, y'know.
 
Wait wait...if Pi is definite, then does that mean there cannot be a true perfect circle? That even the best mathematically calculated circle ever so minutely (to that trillionth digit) just very much so...have a flaw?!
 
Delirious XVII
Wait wait...if Pi is definite, then does that mean there cannot be a true perfect circle? That even the best mathematically calculated circle ever so minutely (to that trillionth digit) just very much so...have a flaw?!
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Again: Huh? Wha?

What on earth do you mean by “definite”?

Do you mean that it’s not infinite? In that case, well, of course, since only infinity is infinite: the formula for the area of a circle is most definitely not a=∞r².

Or do you mean that it (could be) a terminating decimal? In that case, that has no bearing on anything at all in relation to “perfection”. 1/3 is a non-terminating decimal (0.333…); 1/4 is a terminating decimal (0.25). 1/3 is no more “perfect” than 1/4 (actually, Perfect Numbers are a whole ’nother deal, but that’s obviously not what you were referring to).

Methinks you’re a bit confused. ;)
 
Integra Type R
Finding the end of Pi could be the answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything. 42? Psshh...
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Yeah, it's actually 42.14159 but they rounded it down....
 
Sakiale
He's not confused, just using the wrong words...
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Well, even if he’s just using the wrong words, I think he’s conceptually confused. Here, let’s look at it this way:

Taking the formula a=πr², we can rewrite it as π=a/r².

Thus, π is merely the ratio of the area to the square of the radius.

Now, keep in mind what I said earlier: 1/3 is a non-terminating decimal (0.333…), while 1/4 is terminating decimal (0.25). 1/3 is no more a “true” or “perfect” number than 1/4. Both are simply ratios.

Likewise, π is simply a ratio. Whether or not it’s terminating or non-terminating (in decimal form, which is strictly based on our base 10 system) has no bearing on how “flawless” of a circle can be made.
 
Sage
Likewise, π is simply a ratio. Whether or not it’s terminating or non-terminating (in decimal form, which is strictly based on our base 10 system) has no bearing on how “flawless” of a circle can be made.
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That's why I think all of this "I can recite pi to 200,000,000 digits" stuff is nonsense. Pi is a PERFECTLY DEFINED NUMBER. It's just the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle. It is the exact same number for EVERY SINGLE CIRCLE. Just because we have trouble expressing it as a decimal doesn't mean that we are incapable of comprehending its meaning. I like Sage's example of 1/3 and 1/4. Both are equally "perfect" numbers, but one can be expressed in two digits, whereas the other goes on forever in decimal form. Somehow the world keeps on spinning, though...
 

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