Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Lacero

macrumors 604
Jan 20, 2005
6,637
3
Can anyone tell me how the pi fraction of 22/7 came about? I mean how did they come up with that number? I'm stupid.
 

applekid

macrumors 68020
Jul 3, 2003
2,097
0
For two weeks there were signs all over my school that said Happy Pi[e] Day for 3/14. It took me up until last week to figure out why. :eek:

Apparently some cheerleaders started this day at our school. :rolleyes:
 

jsw

Moderator emeritus
Mar 16, 2004
22,910
44
Andover, MA
Someone should call 911 - Doctor Q clearly is incapacitated or being held hostage, as I can conceive of no other reason why he wouldn't have posted here.

I'd call, but "some Mac guy, somewhere on the west coast" probably isn't going to direct help to the proper place.
 

themadchemist

macrumors 68030
Jan 31, 2003
2,820
0
Chi Town
jsw said:
Someone should call 911 - Doctor Q clearly is incapacitated or being held hostage, as I can conceive of no other reason why he wouldn't have posted here.

I'd call, but "some Mac guy, somewhere on the west coast" probably isn't going to direct help to the proper place.

Maybe he is philosophically opposed to irrational, transcendental numbers.
 

jsw

Moderator emeritus
Mar 16, 2004
22,910
44
Andover, MA
themadchemist said:
Maybe he is philosophically opposed to irrational, transcendental numbers.
*** tries to bait Q ***

Hmmm. I thought he'd like them, as he seems to be somewhat irrational yet transcendental himself.

*** runs off ***
 

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
jsw said:
*** tries to bait Q ***

Hmmm. I thought he'd like them, as he seems to be somewhat irrational yet transcendental himself.

*** runs off ***
He posted about this in is Happy 3 4 5 6 7 8 thread. I'd link, but I'm too lazy.
 

Doctor Q

Administrator
Staff member
Sep 19, 2002
39,832
7,631
Los Angeles
Sorry, I'm not going to post here. I've given up math and I'm going to take up basket weaving instead. I don't want to get stereotyped around here.
 

themadchemist

macrumors 68030
Jan 31, 2003
2,820
0
Chi Town
Doctor Q said:
Sorry, I'm not going to post here. I've given up math and I'm going to take up basket weaving instead. I don't want to get stereotyped around here.

In the words of Eric Cartman, "Q, you seck." ;)
 

Lacero

macrumors 604
Jan 20, 2005
6,637
3
My gawd, there should be a warning on this thread. After reading all the posts, I have an intense hankering for pumpkin pie and apple pie. Don't ask me why. Maybe I'm just starving after running for an hour on a treadmill.
 

Doctor Q

Administrator
Staff member
Sep 19, 2002
39,832
7,631
Los Angeles
Doctor Q said:
Sorry, I'm not going to post here. I've given up math and I'm going to take up basket weaving instead. I don't want to get stereotyped around here.
We basket weavers get to pick our patterns for each basket we weave. Maybe I'll start with one like this, with a tessellation pattern. At pages like that, I can read about directions of symmetry, compute the number of ways to tile a surface with a given pattern, measure the area of various geometric shapes, study Escher, and even hop over to a page about plane symmetry groups of wallpaper patterns (parallelogrammatic lattices, anyone?) -- all for the purpose of studying the theory of basket weaving. I'm sure glad I changed hobbies and don't have to all that math anymore. :D
 

AmigoMac

macrumors 68020
Aug 5, 2003
2,063
0
l'Allemagne
Now, that we go with math... ;)

have this:

Top ln(e^10) reasons why e is better than pi

10) e is easier to spell than pi.
9) pi ~= 3.14 while e ~=2.718281828459045.
8) The character for e can be found on a keyboard, but pi sure
can't.
7) Everybody fights for their piece of the pie.
6) ln(pi^1) is a really nasty number, but ln(e^1) = 1.
5) e is used in calculus while pi is used in baby geometry.
4) 'e' is the most commonly picked vowel in Wheel of Fortune.
3) e stands for Euler's Number, pi doesn't stand for squat.
2) You don't need to know Greek to be able to use e.
1) You can't confuse e with a food product.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Top ten reasons why e is inferior to pi

10) e is less challenging to spell than pi.
9) e ~=2.718281828459045, which can be easily memorized to its
billionth place, whereas pi needs "skills" to be memorized.
8) The character for e is so cheap that it can be found on a
keyboard. But PI is special (it's under "special symbols" in
word processor programs.)
7) PI is the bigger piece of pie.
6) e has an easy limit definition and infinite series. The
limit definition of pi and the infinite series are much
harder.
5) e you understand what it is even though you start learning
it late when you're in pre-calculus. But pi, even after five
or six years it's still hard to know what it really is.
4) People mistakenly confuse Euler's Number (e) with Euler's
Constant (gamma). There is no confusion with the one and
only PI.
3) e is named after a person, but pi stands for itself.
2) Pi is much shorter and easier to say than "Euler's Number".
1) To read pi, you don't have to know that Euler's name is
really pronounced Oiler
 

themadchemist

macrumors 68030
Jan 31, 2003
2,820
0
Chi Town
AmigoMac said:
Now, that we go with math... ;)

4) People mistakenly confuse Euler's Number (e) with Euler's
Constant (gamma). There is no confusion with the one and
only PI.

Untrue! While there is only one constant with the symbol pi of which I know, pi is also used as a symbol for osmotic pressure or some such, if I am not mistaken. So ha! While e is only used for e, pi is tricky and confusing like a big ball of tricky...confuse-y...stuff...Yeah...You heard me.
 

Doctor Q

Administrator
Staff member
Sep 19, 2002
39,832
7,631
Los Angeles
It's Pie Day again! Hooray!

Cherry, Blueberry, Lemon Meringue, and of course French Apple is great for Mac fans.

Oh wait, sorry. My mistake. Today is Pi Day (March 14 = 3.14) again.

Well, go ahead and celebrate anyway! :D
 

Coolnat2004

macrumors 6502
Jan 12, 2005
479
4
I can't believe you people haven't been following my countdown! Shame on you!

Happy pi day!

Edit: Can't get the character to look very nice in any of these fonts.. pshh
 

amateurmacfreak

macrumors 6502a
Sep 8, 2005
992
0
Apple Hobo said:
Click here if you've ever wondered what 2,097,152 (958 pages) of pi looks like. :D

It took me about 2.5 minutes to crunch that on a G3 400MHz. :cool: I make no claims of its accuracy.
THAT LINK'S NOT WORKING FOR ME!! :( *runs off weeping, coveting pi....*
 

cyberddot

macrumors 6502
Jul 4, 2003
410
13
in a forest
I was subjected to Kate Bush singing a song with many? all? some of Pie? listed today on my way in to work. If ever there was a song to celebrate Pi Day to, I'd have to guess that would have to rank up there in the top 100.

I might recommend the movie "Pi" to some, but say nothing of it to others.

"Life of Pi" is worth a read.

Happy Pi Day.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.