whats a transcendantal number? also why is pi pi? i mean as in why is 1.something called pi whats so special about it?

I hope it returns the same result for you that it did for me.

Wow! We get back to MathsIsFun forum

espeon, you'd have to wait a little

A number that can't be written as an equation eh? Infatuating!

espeon wrote:

whats a transcendantal number? also why is pi pi? i mean as in why is 1.something called pi whats so special about it?

Pi is the ratio of a circle's diameter to it's circumference. So if you measured both of these on any given circle, you would find that:

circumference = pi * diameter.

Pi is 3.141592... (the digits go on for ever, and never repeat)

The numbers on the number line can be split onto two groups: those that are algebraic and those that are transcendental.

Algebraic numbers are a solution to a polynomial equation* where all the coefficients** are whole numbers. So, for example, the number 2 is algebraic, because it is the solution to the equation:

the number ³/₂ is algebraic because it is the solution of:

and the square root of 2 is algebraic, as it is the solution of:

A transcendental number is any number that is not algebraic. As it happens, pi is transcendental.






* a polynomial equation is one like:

or

or

** in the above equations,

,

,

and

are the coefficients of the equation.

espeon wrote:

dont worry i guess ill learn it in key stage 4 or something

doubt it, im moving onto A-Level maths, and ive never even heard of transcendental numbers before now :p