? (sometimes written pi) is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle’s circumference to its diameter in Euclidean space; this is the same value as the ratio of a circle’s area to the square of its radius. It is approximately equal to 3. 141593 in the usual decimal notation (see the table for its representation in some other bases). The constant is also known as Archimedes Constant, although this name is rather uncommon in modern, western, English-speaking contexts. Many formulae from mathematics, science, and engineering involve ? which is one of the most important mathematical and physical constants. [5] ? is an irrational number, which means that its value cannot be expressed exactly as a fraction m/n, where m and n are integers. Consequently, its decimal representation never ends or repeats. It is also a transcendental number, which implies, among other things, that no finite sequence of algebraic operations on integers (powers, roots, sums, etc. ) can be equal to its value; proving this was a late achievement in mathematical history and a significant result of 19th century German mathematics.
Throughout the history of mathematics, there has been much effort to determine ? more accurately and to understand its nature; fascination with the number has even carried over into non-mathematical culture. The Greek letter ? , often spelled out pi in text, was adopted for the number from the Greek word for perimeter “?????????? “, first by William Jones in 1707, and popularized by Leonhard Euler in 1737. Are you aware of the fact the first 100 decimal digits of pi had already been calculated by the year 1701? Read on to know more.
And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it about. (1 Kings 7:23) a verse from The Holy Bible The above given biblical verse was found in the list of specifications of King Solomon’s Temple that was built around 950 BC. There are historical evidences to prove that area of a circle was calculated by taking 3 times the square of its radius by the Babylonians. An ancient Babylonian tablet found between the 1900 – 1680 BC had the value of pi as 3. 25. The ancient Egyptians calculated the area of a circle using the formula [(8d)/9]2. Where “d” is the diameter of the circle. This formula gives an approximate pi value of 3. 1605. An ancient mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse who lived between 287 – 212 BC derived the value of pi based on the area of a regular polygon inscribed within the circle and the area of a regular polygon within which the circle was circumscribed. Interesting Facts about Pi In 1706, an English mathematician introduced the Greek alphabet pi (? to represent the said value. However, in 1737, Euler officially adopted this symbol to represent the number. In 1897, legislature of Indiana tried to legally establish the most accurate value of pi. However, the bill was never passed. Most of the people are ignorant of the fact circle has infinite number of corners. The value of the pi is the number of times the diameter of a circle would fit around its circumference. The value of pi is 22/7 and it is written as ? =22/7 or as ? =3. 14. The value of pi with first 100 decimal places is: 3. 41592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944 5923078164062862089986280348253421170679 Another interesting fact is you would not find a zero in the first 31 digits of pi. Besides everyday geometry calculations, the value of pi is also used in numerous scientific equations including genetic engineering, measuring the ripples, super strings, normal distribution and so on. Do you know pi not only an irrational number but also a transcendental number? Another interesting fact about pi is it was taken from the Greek letter “Piwas”.
It is also the 16th Greek alphabet. A businessman in Cleveland, US published a book in 1931 to announce the value of pi is 256/81. If you were to print billion decimals of pi in ordinary font it would stretch from New York City to Kansas. Transcendental means it goes on and on and on and on…………. Never ending. * I would take a person working on a regular desk calculator, 8 hours a day, without errors, 30,000 years to reach the same calculation as a computer made in only 8 hours. * 200,000,000,000 digits have been calculated and it still continues.
