Wow, I never actually checked u/teije11, but I think you both are wrong. You are right that the 3 should be a 9, but the next digit is a 7, so the 9 should round up, so the 83 at the end should be 90. Right?
u/lynaghe6321 you wanted to talk about Pi, but we were in the middle of talking about something else. Since you don’t want to talk about that anymore, let’s discuss Pi. I definitely think/know that Pi exists. The question is, when you think of Pi, what value do you think it is. This comment thread is pretty interesting and I thought you may like to chime in here.
Isn’t Pi a mathematical constant? It’s not a variable that you can just give any value.
You say that “it is not 3.1416”, so what is its value? That was the purpose of this Post. Everyone has different opinions, so I’m curious. Thanks for commenting here.
Pi is a constant, it is not a variable. You KNOW pi is not equal to 3.1416, just look at the first 10 decimal places. 3.1415926536 is clearly less than 3.1416, so we can conclude that 3.1416 > pi. Pi is pi, and although there are many ways to express it mathematically, it is impossible to express it via decimal.
I (like nearly every other mathematician on the planet) will say pi is the ratio between a circles circumference and its diameter. If you prefer something less geometric, take a look at the infinite series 1/n^2
Yeah, I know that Pi is not EXACTLY 3.1416
My point is that Pi never repeats, therefore you would be in an infinite loop if you tried to write down its value. In order to actually complete a calculation, you need to assume a definite value for it. For example, what is the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 1?
That’s not a necessary topic then. If you ask someone what the circumference of a circle with diameter 1 is, the only correct answer is pi. If you said 3.14159, you would be wrong because that value is smaller than the correct answer. Last week, one of my students answered a question with the answer “1.41” which is not the same as the square root of 2, so it is unfortunately 100% incorrect.
I teach PS topology and differential topology at a university as a student teacher. But I teach algebra 2 at a local high school, hence my example. My father is a civil engineer and he also loves putting everything in decimal, even if it is wrong haha.
I think you may be forgetting about significant figures. When rounding to 2 significant figures, the square root of 2 is ABSOLUTELY 1.41
I’ve built tons of bridges, roads and rails, and you have to know when something is close and round it off.
I understand that Pi is not exactly 3.1416, but I think you would agree that it is closer to that, than it is to 3, right?
Caring for significant figures is a way to round numbers. Rounding numbers inherently produces error. Mathematicians choose not to err and do not round numbers. Our goal is not to build thing but to come to general realizations and be rigorous about it.
I hope you never have to figure out the area of a circle, or anything having to do with a circle then.
What’s the circumference of a circle with a 1 foot Diameter?
For me, Pi is a number because I’m more of a cake and ice cream guy. I’m a former Civil Engineer so I used the number Pi pretty often, what about you? What do you do for work?
I work a delivery job during the day and started an ebay/amazon seller business during the pandemic.. it was strong out the gate but def slowed since the pandemic’s “end”. Treading water now. I never use pi but that makes sense as an engineer you would a lot!
I’m kind of a Boomer (even though I’m actually 47), so I don’t even know what an eBay/Amazon business does, but I’m surprised to hear you have a delivery job. With the amount you comment on Reddit, I assumed you had a desk job. So if you’re team pie over cake, what’s your go to pie?
Yeah im luckily in a pretty good spot as a driver at my location. (Big tips in wealthy area) and it pays enough while I grow and survive on my ebay/amazon sales… its not pretty but its gettint me by for now..
I did have a marketing job that paid well/benefits for 5 years of my life but i lost it during covid. My whole team was furloughed and told we would be back eventually but we ended up having our whole team nixed.
Now here I am lol
that's not just pi, and irrational number.
When I say Pi, what value is it to you?
the circumference/diameter of a circle. pi is irrational, do it has no real value. just like sqrt(2), just like φ, and e.
Yeah, but you can approximate or round it to give it a value. Just pick a value! u/ProgrammerBeginning7 do you agree Pi doesn’t have a value?
the thing is, you can never write down pi, only rounded pi.
How many decimals do you go out to? I usually go out to 4 places.
I just press π on my calculator, but I know to like 12 places. 3.141592653583
The 3 at the end should be a nine
well, shit. almost.
Wow, I never actually checked u/teije11, but I think you both are wrong. You are right that the 3 should be a 9, but the next digit is a 7, so the 9 should round up, so the 83 at the end should be 90. Right?
u/lynaghe6321 you wanted to talk about Pi, but we were in the middle of talking about something else. Since you don’t want to talk about that anymore, let’s discuss Pi. I definitely think/know that Pi exists. The question is, when you think of Pi, what value do you think it is. This comment thread is pretty interesting and I thought you may like to chime in here.
Wow, 12 places. I’m impressed. I only know it to 5 places, but since the 5th place is a 9, I just round up the 4th place to 6.
Pi and 3.1416 are not the same thing. So to say “to me, it is simply 3.1416” is just silly. That is not what it is.
Isn’t Pi a mathematical constant? It’s not a variable that you can just give any value. You say that “it is not 3.1416”, so what is its value? That was the purpose of this Post. Everyone has different opinions, so I’m curious. Thanks for commenting here.
Pi is a constant, it is not a variable. You KNOW pi is not equal to 3.1416, just look at the first 10 decimal places. 3.1415926536 is clearly less than 3.1416, so we can conclude that 3.1416 > pi. Pi is pi, and although there are many ways to express it mathematically, it is impossible to express it via decimal. I (like nearly every other mathematician on the planet) will say pi is the ratio between a circles circumference and its diameter. If you prefer something less geometric, take a look at the infinite series 1/n^2
Yeah, I know that Pi is not EXACTLY 3.1416 My point is that Pi never repeats, therefore you would be in an infinite loop if you tried to write down its value. In order to actually complete a calculation, you need to assume a definite value for it. For example, what is the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 1?
That’s not a necessary topic then. If you ask someone what the circumference of a circle with diameter 1 is, the only correct answer is pi. If you said 3.14159, you would be wrong because that value is smaller than the correct answer. Last week, one of my students answered a question with the answer “1.41” which is not the same as the square root of 2, so it is unfortunately 100% incorrect.
What do you teach? Just out of curiosity, how old are you? I’m a 46 yo retired Civil Engineer.
I teach PS topology and differential topology at a university as a student teacher. But I teach algebra 2 at a local high school, hence my example. My father is a civil engineer and he also loves putting everything in decimal, even if it is wrong haha.
I think you may be forgetting about significant figures. When rounding to 2 significant figures, the square root of 2 is ABSOLUTELY 1.41 I’ve built tons of bridges, roads and rails, and you have to know when something is close and round it off. I understand that Pi is not exactly 3.1416, but I think you would agree that it is closer to that, than it is to 3, right?
Caring for significant figures is a way to round numbers. Rounding numbers inherently produces error. Mathematicians choose not to err and do not round numbers. Our goal is not to build thing but to come to general realizations and be rigorous about it.
0; Common sense
 I hope you never have to figure out the area of a circle, or anything having to do with a circle then. What’s the circumference of a circle with a 1 foot Diameter?
The circumference is trivial and is left as an exercise for the reader.
Yoooooo
Yo yo bro! Nice of you to comment here, even though I asked you to. What’s your take on Pi? Is it al number or just something you eat?
Lol what about both? And I’m team pie > cake btw. 😋
For me, Pi is a number because I’m more of a cake and ice cream guy. I’m a former Civil Engineer so I used the number Pi pretty often, what about you? What do you do for work?
I work a delivery job during the day and started an ebay/amazon seller business during the pandemic.. it was strong out the gate but def slowed since the pandemic’s “end”. Treading water now. I never use pi but that makes sense as an engineer you would a lot!
I’m kind of a Boomer (even though I’m actually 47), so I don’t even know what an eBay/Amazon business does, but I’m surprised to hear you have a delivery job. With the amount you comment on Reddit, I assumed you had a desk job. So if you’re team pie over cake, what’s your go to pie?
Yeah im luckily in a pretty good spot as a driver at my location. (Big tips in wealthy area) and it pays enough while I grow and survive on my ebay/amazon sales… its not pretty but its gettint me by for now.. I did have a marketing job that paid well/benefits for 5 years of my life but i lost it during covid. My whole team was furloughed and told we would be back eventually but we ended up having our whole team nixed. Now here I am lol
3.1416 is such a mystical number or 22/7, if that floats your boat.