How do mathematicians find pi




















This is what ancient civilisations would have done and it is how they would have first realised that there is a constant ratio hidden within every circle. Archimedes began by inscribing a regular hexagon inside a circle and then circumscribing another regular hexagon outside the same circle.

Archimedes then found a way to double the number of sides of his hexagons. He did this four times until he was using 96 sided polygons. Around years after Archimedes, the Chinese mathematician Zu Chongzhi used a similar method to inscribe a regular polygon with 12, sides. It was nearly more years until a totally new method was devised that improved upon this approximation. Follow the steps given below to know why the value of pi is the ratio of the circumference of the circle to the diameter of the circle.

Step 1: Draw a circle of diameter 1 unit. Step 2: After this step, take a thread and place it along the border of the circle the circumference.

Step 3: Now, place the thread on the ruler and note the length. Repeat the process with diameters of 2 units, 3 units, 4 units, 5 units, and record your observations in the table. As discussed above, the value of pi is an irrational number, which means there are infinite numbers after the number 3.

The decimal places of pi consist of all digits from 0 to 9. There are eight 0s, eight 1s, twelve 2s, eleven 3s, ten 4s. Observe the figure given below which shows that the value of pi starts with 3 and the th decimal digit holds the number 9. The value of pi is non-terminating and non-recurring and is approximated to decimal places as 3. For ease of calculations, it is often approximated to 3. We know that the value of pi is an irrational number in which the numbers after the decimal point are infinite.

Example 1: If the diameter of a circular pizza is 14 units, what is the area of the pizza? Since the pizza is of circular shape, we can use the formula for the area of a circle to calculate the area of the pizza. Example 2: The circumference of a circle is 44 units. Example 3: Betty measured the diameter and circumference of a hula loop accurately.

The diameter was units and the circumference was units. She used these measurements and found the value of pi. Is her value close to the real value of pi? Pi, in mathematics, is a constant which is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Your subscription to The Christian Science Monitor has expired. You can renew your subscription or continue to use the site without a subscription. If you have questions about your account, please contact customer service or call us at This message will appear once per week unless you renew or log out.

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By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy. Select free newsletters: The Weekender. Roughly 3. Pi is roughly 3. If you want to calculate pi, first measure the circumference of a circle by wrapping a piece of string around the edge of it and then measuring the length of the string. Then, measure the diameter of the circle, which is the distance between one side and the other that runs through the center. Just divide the circumference by the diameter to calculate pi!

To learn how to calculate pi using a limit or sine function, keep reading the article! Did this summary help you? Yes No. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers. Please log in with your username or email to continue.

No account yet? Create an account. Edit this Article. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article methods. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Article Summary. Method 1. Make sure you are using a perfect circle. This method won't work with ellipses, ovals, or anything but a real circle. A circle is defined as all the points on a plane that are an equal distance from a single center point.

The lids of jars are good household objects to use for this exercise. You should be able to calculate pi roughly because in order to get exact results of pi, you will need to have a very thin lead or whatever you are using. Even the sharpest pencil graphite could be huge to have exact results.

Measure the circumference of a circle as accurately as you can. The circumference is the length that goes around the entire edge of the circle. Since the circumference is round, it can be difficult to measure that's why pi is so important. Lay a string over the circle as closely as you can. Mark the string off where it circles back around, and then measure the string length with a ruler.



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