[size=18pt]A Brief History of π[/size]

Pi has been known for almost 4000 years—but even if we calculated the number of seconds in those 4000 years and calculated pi to that number of places, we would still only be approximating its actual value. Intriguing huh? Here’s a brief history of finding pi:

The ancient Babylonians calculated the area of a circle by taking 3 times the square of its radius, which gave a value of pi = 3. One Babylonian tablet (ca. 1900–1680 BC) indicates a value of 3.125 for pi, which is a closer approximation.

The Rhind Papyrus (ca.1650 BC) gives us insight into the mathematics of ancient Egypt. The Egyptians calculated the area of a circle by a formula that gave the approximate value of 3.1605 for pi.

The first calculation of pi was done by Archimedes of Syracuse (287–212 BC), one of the greatest mathematicians of the ancient world. Archimedes approximated the area of a circle by using the Pythagorean Theorem to find the areas of two regular polygons: the polygon inscribed within the circle and the polygon within which the circle was circumscribed. Since the actual area of the circle lies between the areas of the inscribed and circumscribed polygons, the areas of the polygons gave upper and lower bounds for the area of the circle. Archimedes knew that he had not found the value of pi but only an approximation within those limits. In this way, Archimedes showed that pi is between 3 1/7 and 3 10/71.

A similar approach was used by Zu Chongzhi (429–501), a brilliant Chinese mathematician and astronomer. Zu Chongzhi would not have been familiar with Archimedes’ method—but because his book has been lost, little is known of his work. He calculated the value of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter to be 355/113. To compute this accuracy for pi, he must have started with an inscribed regular 24,576-gon and performed lengthy calculations involving hundreds of square roots carried out to 9 decimal places.

Mathematicians began using the Greek letter π in the 1700s. Introduced by William Jones in 1706, use of the symbol was popularized by Leonhard Euler, who adopted it in 1737.

[size=18pt]DEFINITION[/size]

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Pi_eq_C_over_d.svg[/img]

π is commonly defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference C to its diameter d

The ratio C/d is constant, regardless of the circle's size. For example, if a circle has twice the diameter of another circle it will also have twice the circumference, preserving the ratio C/d. This definition of π implicitly makes use of flat (Euclidean) geometry; although the notion of a circle can be extended to any curved (non-Euclidean) geometry, these new circles will no longer satisfy the formula π = C/d.

[size=18pt]VALUE[/size]

Actually, π actual value is unknown, the only value we have at hand is an approximate value of pi, π is a continous fractual, in simple terms, its an irrational number, and there is no way its nexr values can be guess through studies in sequence and series because π has no pattern, 3 is the whole number in π, it then has unknown number of decimal places, here are the first 50 decimal places in π, 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510... , recently BBC News announced that a researcher has calculated the 2,000,000,000,000,000th digit π....


Well, that's all i have for now

Interesting

lexiconkabir:
[size=18pt]A Brief History of π[/size]

Pi has been known for almost 4000 years—but even if we calculated the number of seconds in those 4000 years and calculated pi to that number of places, we would still only be approximating its actual value. Intriguing huh? Here’s a brief history of finding pi:

The ancient Babylonians calculated the area of a circle by taking 3 times the square of its radius, which gave a value of pi = 3. One Babylonian tablet (ca. 1900–1680 BC) indicates a value of 3.125 for pi, which is a closer approximation.

The Rhind Papyrus (ca.1650 BC) gives us insight into the mathematics of ancient Egypt. The Egyptians calculated the area of a circle by a formula that gave the approximate value of 3.1605 for pi.

The first calculation of pi was done by Archimedes of Syracuse (287–212 BC), one of the greatest mathematicians of the ancient world. Archimedes approximated the area of a circle by using the Pythagorean Theorem to find the areas of two regular polygons: the polygon inscribed within the circle and the polygon within which the circle was circumscribed. Since the actual area of the circle lies between the areas of the inscribed and circumscribed polygons, the areas of the polygons gave upper and lower bounds for the area of the circle. Archimedes knew that he had not found the value of pi but only an approximation within those limits. In this way, Archimedes showed that pi is between 3 1/7 and 3 10/71.

A similar approach was used by Zu Chongzhi (429–501), a brilliant Chinese mathematician and astronomer. Zu Chongzhi would not have been familiar with Archimedes’ method—but because his book has been lost, little is known of his work. He calculated the value of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter to be 355/113. To compute this accuracy for pi, he must have started with an inscribed regular 24,576-gon and performed lengthy calculations involving hundreds of square roots carried out to 9 decimal places.

Mathematicians began using the Greek letter π in the 1700s. Introduced by William Jones in 1706, use of the symbol was popularized by Leonhard Euler, who adopted it in 1737.

[size=18pt]DEFINITION[/size]

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Pi_eq_C_over_d.svg[/img]

π is commonly defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference C to its diameter d

The ratio C/d is constant, regardless of the circle's size. For example, if a circle has twice the diameter of another circle it will also have twice the circumference, preserving the ratio C/d. This definition of π implicitly makes use of flat (Euclidean) geometry; although the notion of a circle can be extended to any curved (non-Euclidean) geometry, these new circles will no longer satisfy the formula π = C/d.

[size=18pt]VALUE[/size]

Actually, π actual value is unknown, the only value we have at hand is an approximate value of pi, π is a continous fractual, in simple terms, its an irrational number, and there is no way its nexr values can be guess through studies in sequence and series because π has no pattern, 3 is the whole number in π, it then has unknown number of decimal places, here are the first 50 decimal places in π, 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510... , recently BBC News announced that a researcher has calculated the 2,000,000,000,000,000th digit π....


Well, that's all i have for now

This is amazing
Hope you had a wonderful iftar

carinmom:


This is amazing
Hope you had a wonderful iftar

Na'am sister , hope you are enjoying the month of ramadon?

lexiconkabir:


Na'am sister , hope you are enjoying the month of ramadon?

Sure, may Allah accept all our ibadah.

carinmom:


Sure, may Allah accept all our ibadah.

Ameen.......and hope my brother is kicking?

lexiconkabir:


Ameen.......and hope my brother is kicking?

Alhamdulillah, he's kicking well.

carinmom:

Alhamdulillah, he's kicking well.

Masha Allah! Thats cute

lexiconkabir:


Masha Allah! Thats cute

Thanx