addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division
2006-08-25 06:31:12 · 14 answers · asked by christopkim951 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
there is a very complicated formula, (which I can't remember) but the value is:- 3.1415926535.....
It has been worked out to about 10 million digits, but as others have said above, for everyday use 22/7 is close enough ( that is 3.142857 142857 142857 ...)
2006-08-25 06:41:40 · answer #1 · answered by millowner87 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
There are countless ways to get it, but the most natural is to take the circumference of a circle and divide it by the circle's diameter. That is pi.
But you could also, say, take the area of a circle and divide it by the square of the radius.
Or, you could also compute pi by taking the ratio of 2 over the square root of 3, and then multiplying this by the following big equation: 1 - 1/(3 x 3) + 1/(5 x 3^2) - 1/(7 x 3^3) + etc.
One could continue giving you such formula forever.
2006-08-25 06:36:39 · answer #2 · answered by A professor (thus usually wrong) 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By Monte Carlo experiments. One very crude example is:
Construct a circle in a square that just touches all sides of the square.
Put the paper on the floor.
Drop a pencil on it repeatedly and as randomly as possible.
Count the number of times, a, the pencil lands in the square.
Count the number of times, b, the pencil lands also in the circle.
Assume distribution of the landing position is uniformly distributed throughout the square.
The true probability of any drop of the pencil landing within the square also lands in the circle is
(area of circle)/(area of square) and can be estimated by b/a where the larger b is should provide a better estimate.
Thus, (pi x r^2)/(2r)^2 ~ b/a
pi ~ 4b/a
Practically it is hard to implement because you have to 'know' somehow where is the square, so not random and the distribution is not likely to be uniform.
You can try simulating the above using pseudo numbers in computer.
2006-08-25 08:20:38 · answer #3 · answered by back2nature 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are many infinite series that approximate pi. Here is one:
pi/4=1 - 1/3 + 1/5 - 1/7 + 1/9 - . . .
2006-08-25 06:36:52 · answer #4 · answered by fcas80 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There are plenty of infinite series which will let you calculate pi to any accuracy you want.
Just use any one, and see how many decimal places you can get, if you have nothing better to do.
2006-08-25 07:02:57 · answer #5 · answered by The Prince 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
divide the length of the circumference of a circle by the length of its diameter.
22/7 is a decent approximation. (accurate to 2 decimal places)
2006-08-25 06:34:45 · answer #6 · answered by jimvalentinojr 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
By definition, pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. 22/7 is close.
2006-08-25 06:34:37 · answer #7 · answered by Pey 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
3 divided by 22
2006-08-25 06:37:22 · answer #8 · answered by Mandms2 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
You take the circumference of a circle and divide by the diameter. you get pi everytime.
2006-08-25 06:34:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's always the circumference of a circle divided by its radius.
2006-08-25 08:02:00 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋