Since I'm writing this Pi day post in advance, I don't know exactly how many pictures of Felix Pie you've seen today, but I'm going to guess a lot if I know my pun-loving blogger compatriots. Here's one more.
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| 2011 Topps #106 Felix Pie |
But wait, there's more than just a pun here. One of my other interests is mathematics. Did you know there's a movement among mathematicians with too much time on their hands to replace pi with tau, which is equal to 2 times pi? No? Yes? Why am I pretending I can hear you? We're going to need another Pie.
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| 2011 Topps - Diamond Anniversary Parallel #106 Felix Pie |
Here is one of the main starting points to read about it:
Pi Is Wrong! Also one of my favorite math-based web comics,
Spiked Math, covered the topic Tuesday. Basically, there are all kinds of reasons that a fundamental constant of 2pi makes more sense than pi. It's kind of like if we measured cars' speeds in half-miles per hour, and called them elims, and Interstate speed limits were 130 or 140 elims per hour instead of 65 or 70 miles per hour. All the math would still work, it might just feel a little off compared to other usages of the mile.
Alright, everyone go enjoy some pie.
If tau is correct, and you need to know the circumference of a tree, how do you measure the radius? The practical application is for whatever is easiest to measure, which is diameter.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I enjoy the idea of tau.