Friday, November 24, 2006,
12:43 AM
1 Kings 7:23 reads "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 about."
This is the earliest ever and probably the most inaccurate estimate of the value of pi(π) which equals 3. Hmmm... ever since then much work and study has been done to estimate and determine as well as possible the value of pi. There are several methods in doing so...
They include the trapezoid method from a unit circle, deductions from Taylor series, Fourier series, Buffon's needle, estimating a range from polygons encasing the unit circle, bla bla bla...
The thing is, pi is proven to be an irrational number, and thus, has no repeating pattern in its decimals... therefore, people have tried to estimate pi to as many decimals as possible... our scientific and graphics calculators has π = 3.14159265359 (11 d.p), we learn in Sec Sch pi = 3.142 (3 d.p), hey, check out this website that gives pi to 1 million decimals... talk about exaggerating!!!
http://3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592.com/index1.htmlLolage!!!
The thing is, no matter what we try or how much we try, the decimals of pi will never be limited... yet, we still use pi in many mathematical calculations and proofs... pi shows up in every calculation involving circular shapes, like the circle in 2D, cone and cylinder and spheres in 3D...
Check out this amazing facts where pi shows up in number theories:
1. The probability that two randomly chosen integers are coprime is 6/(pi^2)
2. The probability that a randomly chosen integer is square-free is 6/(pi^2)
3. The average number of ways to write a positive integer as the sum of two perfect squares (order matters but not sign) is pi/4.
In Physics, the cosmological constant has pi in it... it shows up again in Coulomb's law for the electric force, Einstein's field equation of general relativity, and many more...
pi shows up everywhere... and we are unable to explain why... it's like Charlie Eppes said, "Sometimes, math finds something that we can't explain!" Just like pi!!!
So, why this happens, we have absolutely no idea... but one thing's for sure... pi wasn't there accidentally... it couldn't have been... someone must've put it there, someone far more supreme and far more advanced intellectually than any human being... and that person alone knows the EXACT value of pi... and one day, we will find out what it is ourselves...
"The heavens declare the glory of God,
the firmaments show His handiwork,
Day after day utters speech,
and night after night shows knowledge..."
(Ps 19:1-2)
Praise the LORD!
