• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Does Pi terminate or never?

stilicho said:
Is that possible? Is there such a thing as 3-ish or pi-ish? I could easily be falling for some kind of inside math joke but you'd have to explain it...which would ruin its humour value but might be educational in some way.
Click to expand...

As I understand it, it IS a joke of sorts.
You can occasionally find, in various scientific and engineering writings, statements in the general form of:
"For sufficiently [comparative modifier {such as "large", "high", "long","narrow", etc.}] values (or ranges) of [quantity or property {such as "hardness", "mass", "lifetime", "voltage", "luminosity", "incremental change", etc.}], one can expect [some interesting or surprising result]".

It IS often twisted into a humorous form that may be difficult for non-insiders to catch on to. One of my favorites is "for sufficiently large values of "nil", you approach infinity"; other people like to make up their own.

I suspect the origin is from limit and infinitesimal theorems. (I hope I said that right.)

Technical people often have VERY quirky senses of humor.:D
(You may have seen the Intel TV ad where one researcher sneaks over to his co-worker"s calculations, adds a "plus" symbol to a spot, and then sits down and waits for the other guy to return. The other immediately notices, and they both have a long, hearty laugh. The tag line is "Our jokes aren't like your jokes".)

Cheers,

Dave
 
Last edited:
Dave is spot on.

My lecturer in calculus used to say "1 plus 1 equals 3 for sufficiently large values of 1".
 
erlando said:
Dave is spot on.

My lecturer in calculus used to say "1 plus 1 equals 3 for sufficiently large values of 1".
Click to expand...
1.3 is approximately 1. 1.3 + 1.3 = 2.6. Which is approximately 3. It does not have to be any deeper than that in the world of physics. :) I am sure mathematics-gurus have more complex explanations that are funny to them. :p
 
This guy has calculated the "correct value for Pi". He says it's 3.125 :jaw-dropp And also that it's 0.78125, 1.28, 0.64 and 0.21875 :confused:

He also says you can win 300,000 Swedish Crowns if you find a mistake in the theories in his book. Anybody want to try?
 
Loss Leader said:
Outside of pure theoretical mathematics, Pi does terminate in a way. If, say, you are measuring Pi in meters, after a surprisingly small number of decimal places, you reach a measurement that is smaller than a planck length. If the 3 is 3 meters, about thirty five or so digits deep, the number becomes physically meaningless. The next digit would attempt divide a space that does not, for all practical purposes, exist.
Click to expand...
If you're measuring pi, you're not doing it right.
If your pi is in meters, you've got the wrong one.
 
I think the Texas School Board is working on this as we speak… They would like to give a more rounded view of mathematics. ;)
 
Michael C said:
This guy has calculated the "correct value for Pi". He says it's 3.125 :jaw-dropp And also that it's 0.78125, 1.28, 0.64 and 0.21875 :confused:

He also says you can win 300,000 Swedish Crowns if you find a mistake in the theories in his book. Anybody want to try?
Click to expand...

I actually tried to get what he was saying, but I lost patience around chapter 2 part 2 of his "book".
 
Loss Leader said:
Outside of pure theoretical mathematics, Pi does terminate in a way. If, say, you are measuring Pi in meters, after a surprisingly small number of decimal places, you reach a measurement that is smaller than a planck length. If the 3 is 3 meters, about thirty five or so digits deep, the number becomes physically meaningless. The next digit would attempt divide a space that does not, for all practical purposes, exist.
Click to expand...

It is not that Pi eventually terminates in this way.

It is that space as we understand it is inadequate for a practical demonstration of Pi beyond a certain scale.

Wise you are.
 
Speed of Light said:
How is it possible that a finite formula can produce an infinite amount of information?
Click to expand...

Assuming there's an infinite amount of information there, there's no reason it can't.
Finite formula: Start with one. Add one. Repeat.
... see how that works?
 
Speed of Light said:
How is it possible that a finite formula can produce an infinite amount of information?
Click to expand...

AvalonXQ said:
Assuming there's an infinite amount of information there, there's no reason it can't.
Finite formula: Start with one. Add one. Repeat.
... see how that works?
Click to expand...

That's not the same, because there is an obvious pattern
With pi, there is no repetitive pattern, and the lack of predictability continues to infinity
 
Speed of Light said:
That's not the same, because there is an obvious pattern
With pi, there is no repetitive pattern, and the lack of predictability continues to infinity
Click to expand...
Since there is an algorithm that generates the decimals, I would say they are predictable. But randomly distributed.

nimzo
 
Speed of Light said:
How is it possible that a finite formula can produce an infinite amount of information?
Click to expand...

Finite formula : 1/3 = 0.3333333... : infinite amount of information
Finite formula : sqrt(2) = 1.41421356... : infinite amount of information.

ETA: What's that "finite formula" you are talking about?
 
Last edited:
readme.txt said:
Finite formula : 1/3 = 0.3333333... : infinite amount of information
Finite formula : sqrt(2) = 1.41421356... : infinite amount of information.

ETA: What's that "finite formula" you are talking about?
Click to expand...

1/3 repeats in base 10 notation. In other bases, a base divisible by 3, this decimal expansion wouldn't repeat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom