How Pi became so famous

Here when I talk about the word Pi I am talking about the mathematical constant π whose value is 3.14159265359……. and on and on it goes. Now one confusion I’d like to clear is that pi is not equal to 22/7 but this ratio is quite close to pi and that’s why it’s called irrational (we can’t represent it in terms of a ratio of two numbers).

What is pi?

Mathematically, it is the circumference divided by the diameter of a circle.

                                                    

Before talking about its importance, I would like to highlight the history behind this number.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PI:

It’s a really old number. Its history dates back to over 4000 years among the ancient Babylonians. They used to calculate the area of the circle to be 3 times the square of the radius. So the value of pi at that time came to be around 3.

But the major breakthrough regarding this number came from Archimedes who calculated the area of the circles by inscribing polygons within and outside the circle and finding out the area of those polygons. So the area of the circle had to be between the outside polygon and inside the polygon. He had shown that π is between 3 1/7 and 3 10/71

                                               

The symbol pi was used to denote this constant way after around 1707 by Mathematician William Jones but it was actually popularized by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler.

As time went on the digits behind pi kept on increasing as our approximation improved. Eventually, computers were developed and now there is are billions of digits of pi calculated.

Now, here comes the important part where I mention the importance of pi and why it has gotten such popularity.

USED IN VARIOUS FORMULAE AND HAS LOTS OF AREAS OF APPLICATIONS:

Pi is used very much in the field of mathematics and physics too. The most famous formula includes calculating the area of the circle. Instead of me writing about its applications I will just give you guys the link where you can look it up.

formulae involving pi
Talking about the areas of the application here are some cool facts:

1. Pi can be found within our own bodies. A single DNA strand is around 1.5 meters but it is spiraled into a structure which fits into such a small space in our body
   This new structure is 1.5  times shorter than the long DNA strand.


2. The number pi is also found in the Great Pyramid of Giza. The height of the pyramid is π times greater than the perimeter of the base


3. Pi is also used in the field of statistics and has something to do with calculating the probability of something happening or not.


4. Remember certain digits of pi as follows:
   May I have a large container of coffee, cream, and sugar? (3.1415926535…)


5. It also comes in the area of rivers where there is a special term called meandering ratio which is the actual length of the river to the actual length of the river from the source which nears down to the number π. (Einstein was the first to find this amazing fact)

There’s still a lot of places in this world where this number is found and a lot of fields more where pi is used:Some formulas of quantum mechanics, which govern the microscopic world of atoms and nuclei, involve π. And something unique about it that it has a whole day dedicated to this number called Pi day there are hardly other numbers that have days dedicated to them.Pi day is MARCH 14 every year. If you missed it this year then celebrate this day the upcoming year by baking pies and posting stories in social media next year!                                            /