by Sugar π. (and help from Carol, thank you!)
Yesterday was International π Day honoring me, Sugar Pi.
I had Cheri contact my sister’s mom since I have heard she is a retired university math professor. Certainly she could help a lay dog like me understand the origins of my name.
At first I thought my name was a sweet pie made up of only flour, butter and sugar and popular in France and Belgium.
But then I learned it referenced a math term.
Carol, Geno’s mom, was so kind to try to explain π to Pi.
Here is what she wrote to Cheri, an English major who earned a B in geometry but a D in algebra and don’t even ask what she earned in Algebra 2.
Pi is a letter in the Greek alphabet which looks like a double Capital T.
It is used to denote a number which arises in geometry, namely the area of of a circle of radius 1.
It turns out that the area of a circle with radius r is this same number pi times the square of r, no matter what value r takes. In other words pi is a constant. It is approximately (but NOT exactly) 22/7 or 3.1459.The name pi day arrives from the approximation 3.14, ie March 14th.
Now comes the more interesting question: why is pi important? It comes up in many ways in mathematics-in geometry as above, in calculus,etc etc. and there was an attempt to find its value exactly. But while it is possible to estimate its value to as many decimal places as one wants, its decimal value is neither ending nor does it satisfy any pattern. (Compare 2/9, which also doesn’t end but is 0.222222222…, ie is a repeating decimal).
As mathematical sophistication increased it was proved that pi not a fraction, nor is it the root of any equation over the integers. (Compare the square root of 2: it satisfies the equation x^2=2.)
Even worse, or more intriguing than some non-repeating decimals, pi is a transcendental number—mathematically, transcendental is the opposite of algebraic.
Another transcendental number is e, Euler’s constant ( approx. 2.72), the base of natural logarithms which arises at least as often as pi. Almost all real numbers are transcendental, but to prove a specific one is transcendental is rarely easy.
Cheri spent eons of time yesterday in a sincere attempt to understand this perfect explanation but could only pull several key ideas from Carol’s explanation.
Pi is constantly transcendental sort of like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Henry David Thoreau.
Pi is like a pie in that it will help determine how wide to make the crust.
To find the Greek letter to illustrate Pi, you need to hold the option and P key down.
And, according to Carol, there is “intrigue” in mathematics. Who would have thunk?
Math people are so silly. They keep talking about Pi R squared.But everyone knows Pi aren't square. Cake are square. Pi are round.
Such anxiety reading this post - well until I read your reflections Cheri (then I smiled and relaxed). Math and I never got along. To try and prove to myself that I could conquer Algebra 2, I took the class at the community college in Eagle. Just like in high school, I threw fits, swore, and even shed a few tears - I passed but it got the best of me! Just ask Tom.