π

[Slim]

I find π fascinating. How can it be that the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter is an unending number?

It has an infinite number of decimal places. Trillions of them have been calculated and are known.

And yet you would only need to know π to 37 decimal places to calculate the circumference of a circle the size of the observable universe to within the width of a hydrogen atom.

So it's a number that exists in nature; a property of the universe - yet only a tiny handful of those decimal places are useful.

When I did the maths module in my degree I memorised it as 3.14159265. Easy enough but those 8 decimal places would be enough to calculate the circumference of the Earth to within 4.6cm (about the width of a golf ball).

[Matt2112]

The English equivalent is the letter p, of course, although the Greek letter π is still pronounced in the Greek as "pee", not "pie"; so, the English pronunciation of the Greek letter π is different to the Greek pronunciation, but the Greek pronunciation of π is the same as the English for the letter p - and all that is to avoid any confusion of course.

[The Picnic Wasp]

The English equivalent is the letter p, of course, although the Greek letter π is still pronounced in the Greek as "pee", not "pie"; so, the English pronunciation of the Greek letter π is different to the Greek pronunciation, but the Greek pronunciation of π is the same as the English for the letter p - and all that is to avoid any confusion of course.

I suppose it might be pronounced pie in English to differentiate it internationally as its irrational number identity. At school we were taught to memorise it to seven decimal places in the following fashion: May I have a drink alcoholic of course. Strange, as the slightest whiff of alcohol would have earned at least six ferulae. Probably more.

[Matt2112]

The English equivalent is the letter p, of course, although the Greek letter π is still pronounced in the Greek as "pee", not "pie"; so, the English pronunciation of the Greek letter π is different to the Greek pronunciation, but the Greek pronunciation of π is the same as the English for the letter p - and all that is to avoid any confusion of course.

I suppose it might be pronounced pie in English to differentiate it internationally as its irrational number identity. At school we were taught to memorise it to seven decimal places in the following fashion: May I have a drink alcoholic of course. Strange, as the slightest whiff of alcohol would have earned at least six ferulae. Probably more.

Indeed, I just find the irony amusing, which I find is happening quite often the more I'm learning the Greek language.

As another instance, the Greek equivalent of the letter r (pronounced "rho" in the Greek) looks very much like the English letter p in both lower and upper cases, i.e.:

ρ and Ρ.

But I may be wavering slightly off topic now.