What, if any, is the relations ship between pi, (22/7) and the dimensions of the Pyramids of Egypt?

Question

I read some where that these scientists could detect the ratio from the way the dimensions of the pyramids relate. is it true? are there similar discoveries with the constructions of other cultures?

I read somewhere that scientists managed to establish the relationship. if so, are there other cultures that have exhibited such novelty in their works?

Answer 1

22/7 is a rough approximation of pi, useful for rough calculations. I don't know how you'd get either from the dimensions of an Egyptian pyramid. But ask enough numerologists and I'm sure you'll find a way.

Answer 2

The relationship you are talking about is the ratio between the Pyramid's height, and its base length. The length of two sides divided by the height is about 3.14, which is fairly close to 3.1415926... The Great Pyramid is (or was before they knocked the top off) 148m high, and 232.5m along a side. 465/148=3.142

You don't necessarily have to know an accurate value of pi however for it to appear in an object; and obvious case is a wheel. Wheelwrights have made perfectly circular wheels for millenia, and have never used a calculation involving pi!

How could it get into a pyramid? Well, about 30 years ago Kurt Mendelssohn suggested this:

1. Egyptians knew the 3-4-5 right angled triangle, and considered it sacred.
2. They believed the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its diameter should be 3; they measured it and found it wasn't. The gods can't be wrong, so pi must be "divine 3", unlike boring old day-to-day 3 you count with.
3. If they wanted to construct the pyramid as a 3-4-5 triangle (3 from edge to centre, 4 high and thus 5 from summit to ground along the slope), they would use "divine 3" (Pharaoh was a god after all).
4. So for every four units up, they would roll a drum 1 unit in diameter along the ground. One revolution would mark "divine 3"; i.e. pi.
5. That would create the observed slope angle of 51.86degrees, and the ratio discussed

Answer 3

By the way, there are many pyramids, and each has a different slope. So, the Great Pyramid is the only one with just those dimensions and ratios (one of Seneferu's pyramids is close). There is also evidence that the ancient Egyptians preferred a steeper slope than that of the Great Pyramid, but had to settle for shallower slopes, to keep the pyramids from collapsing.

The ancient Egyptians seem to have sometimes used a value of 22/7 (3.142857 . . .) for pi. There is also evidence that they estimated the area of a circle with a square with a side that is 8/9 the size of the circle's diameter. This gives a value of pi of 3.16049382716 . . .

Any fool can figure that the value of pi is a little greater than 3, if he/she wants to experiment a little. Draw a circle, the larger the better, and measure the diameter and the circumference (with a string perhaps). Calculate pi=C/2r. You will probably get 3 or 4 digits of accuracy. If you are really good at that sort of thing, you may be able to get 5 digits. That's pretty good. That's better than Archimedes' estimate. Try that for a simple low-tech science fair project.

Pi is approximately 3.1415926535 . . . Concerning Khufu's (Cheops') Great Pyramid, twice the length of one side, divided by the height, is approximately pi. The published dimensions vary, depending on the sources, and so the accuracy of any relationship with pi also varies (from errors in the inches (or centimeters) to a few feet (many centimeters)). This relationship may be a coincidence. And, as I said above, knowledge of pi is not very exciting. And the more or less accidental use of pi, measuring distances with a wheel perhaps, is also possible. After all you don't need to know the value of pi to use a circle.


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Answer 4

There is almost certainly no "mystery" here. The slope of the Egyptian and Central American pyramids is related to their mechanical stability. (What shape is any heap of rocks?) The old Egyptians were no fools and by the time they came to building the Great Pyramid they'd had a few hundred years of practice.

The base of the Great Pyramid was measured out square. The four corners of a square always lie on a circle, the three corners of any triangle always lie on a circle. All four sides are triangles. I can just imagine some character 4700 years ago saying "Listen you blokes, lets make the proportions so that the height has some arithmetical relation to a circle too. How cool would that be?"

Architects have been fiddling around with slightly obscure geometrical and arithmetical ratios ever since. The first practising architect in Australia measured all the long sides of his buildings in feet and inches and the short sides in metres and centimetres, or so say some who research his few remaining buildings. He was heavily into geometry as well. You have to be if you are going to design something that will stand up, but I understand his interest extended to “sacred geometry”.

Washington, Brasilia and Canberra were originally laid out on geometrical lines and it looks as if some medieval European towns were as well. Their winding streets were in some cases deliberate and set out with compasses. Anytime you start using geometry extensively you are likely to run up against pi.

Answer 5

There is a pi relationship in the great pyramid at Giza. If you were to draw a circle that fits exactly into the base area of the pyramid, you could then 'stand it up' and find that it would fit from the base to the top of the pyramid.The ancient Egyptians used pi frequently.I think it's true that most of the knowledge we have of mathematics was known a long time before we think it was.We are only rediscovering it.

Answer 6

I just have to tell you that this question/answer made my day. It has been too long since I ate Koshari and I have been able to replicate every part of it in my kitchen except the da2a taste, but now some people here have given me new hope hahaa :)~ so..yes.. you shouldn't eat it without the da2a..it really makes it taste like "Koshari" and not some Italian dish.

Answer 7

There are 7 major pyramid sites: Giza, Saqqara, etc...
And if you count up all the pyramids in these 7 sites you will find that there are 22
...
maybe.
I haven't counted them myself
But it seems likely

Answer 8

This appears interesting

http://www.math.washington.edu/~greenber/PiPyr.html

However, I susdpect that pi relates in some way to nearly all geometric shapes and the Houses of parliament will also give various coincidental figures.

Answer 9

Incas are woth looking into......

Aztecs.............

Great Architecture, Check out the discovery channel etc etc