it is to do with maths and circles
2006-10-30 18:35:55 · 19 answers · asked by sheik_shameer4life 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
circumference / diameter
experiment:
take a piece of string and wrap around a can or bottle.
measure that string. this is your circumference.
take another piece of string and put in across the bottom
of the bottle/can splitting the circle into two equal halfs. this is your diametrer.
take the circumference of the circle and divide by the diameter
this equals pi.
you can do this for any circle no matter how big or small and it will come out to a constant number. this number is named pi.
2006-10-30 18:52:33 · answer #1 · answered by timespiral 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Ah, you misunderstand what pi is exactly.
See, pi is an irrational number, which basically means that it's not a rational number. So what's a rational number? A rational number is any number that can be expressed in the form M/N where M and N are integers and N is not zero ('cause that would make it undefined).
If a number is irrational, that means it can't be expressed as a fraction M/N, so asking for pi as a fraction is an impossible question to answer, because you can't.
Since pi is irrational, expressing it in decimal form is just as daunting. The decimal places of pi will never terminate, nor will they repeat. The best way to express pi is to simply use the greek letter that represents it, approximate it by the fraction 22/7, or to approximate it to a finite number of decimals (3.2, 3.14, 3.1415 etc.)
Remember, pi does NOT equal 22/7, this is just a common approximation.
Hope this helps.
2006-10-31 02:37:23 · answer #2 · answered by CubicMoo 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The approximation 22 / 7 is pretty rough.
The fraction 355 / 113 is correct to within about 1 part in 12 million.
It has been known and proved since about 1760 that there is no fraction which is exactly equal to pi.
2006-10-31 05:31:42 · answer #3 · answered by bh8153 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the first approximation
of Pi in fraction is 22/7
2006-10-31 14:22:35 · answer #4 · answered by openpsychy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sine pi is irrational, there is no fraction that is exact,
but 22/7=3 1/7 is close enough for most applications.
2006-10-31 13:04:47 · answer #5 · answered by yupchagee 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Rebutting Rensen's answer, 22/7 is not the the closest. For example, the fraction 1068966896/340262731 is far more accurate, to 17 decimal places. But that value is far more accuracy needed by the average person, and probably too much for a 5th grader to memorize.
22/7 is easy to remember, and contains "3.14" as its first three digits, so it's "good enough" for day to day use and thus commonly taught.
2006-10-31 03:06:59 · answer #6 · answered by knowitall 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Pi as a fraction is 22/7,and as a decimal it is 3.14...however in maths it is advisable to use pi as 22/7 for correct solution.
2006-10-31 02:53:59 · answer #7 · answered by sonu_sarvase 1 · 0⤊ 4⤋
22/7
2006-10-31 04:06:45 · answer #8 · answered by sonali 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
22/7
2006-10-31 04:01:40 · answer #9 · answered by lazareh 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
355 / 113 = 3.1415929... . Use your calculator to check.
.. while pi = 3.1415927... .
355 /113 - pi = about 3 x10^(-7)
An exact fraction for pi does not exist.
Th
2006-10-31 04:34:05 · answer #10 · answered by Thermo 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋