Pi

The mathematical constant ? is the ratio of a circle's circumference (Greek ??????????, periphery) to its diameter and is commonly used in mathematics, physics, and engineering. The name of the Greek letter ? is pi (pronounced pie), and this spelling can be used in typographical contexts where the Greek letter is not available. ? is also known as Archimedes' constant (not to be confused with Archimedes' number) and Ludolph's number.

History of π

Main article: History of Pi.

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π has been known in some form since antiquity. References to measurements of a circular basin in the Bible give a corresponding value of 3 for π: "And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about." — 1 Kings 7:23; KJV.

Related Topics:
Bible - 1 Kings

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Nehemiah, a late antique Jewish rabbi and mathematician explained this apparent lack of precision in π, by considering the thickness of the basin, and assuming that the thirty cubits was the inner circumference, while the ten cubits was the diameter of the outside of the basin.

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Alternatively, it is known that the Bible commonly uses rounded figures because these are descriptions, not architectural blueprints. It has been shown by some that since the Hebrew has no digits ? all letters are also numbers ? the relevant Hebrew in this passage can be calculated to find π. The calculation comes out to 3.14150943... This is only a difference of 0.0000832 with actual π.

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