Re: [MATHEDCC] Math & Physics

Martha Haehl (haehl@KCMETRO.CC.MO.US)
Sun, 15 Nov 1998 10:07:56 -0500

This reminds me of class visitation I did of a part time math instructor
several years ago--in Basic Math. She told her class that 3 1/7 was a
better approximation of pi than the value a calculator returns with the pi
key. In discussion after class she believed that "the further you go out in
calculating 3 1/7 to closer you get to pi." I talked to her about what pi
is geometrically and some of the ways to calculate pi, including with the
Taylor series and a bit about what convergence means. Her final arguement
was, "Why is it that some third world countries have decided that pi is 3
1/7?" I sighed.

Martha
>
>V E R Y roughly. But the Flat Earth Society will be disappointed.
>
>On the other hand, you may have discovered that in some countries, (pi)^2
>is 32. Which will disappoint the Indiana Legislature, which knows it is 9.
>

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