Pi Around the World
Find the values for pi that the following groups or individuals discovered.
1. Close to 4000 years ago, the ancient Babylonians figured pi at 25/8. Divide 25 by 8. __________________
2. Ancient Egyptians wrote pi as 256/81. Divide 256 by 81. __________________
3. Here's a puzzle from the Bible. The Old Testament recounts that King Solomon created a "molten sea," a sort of ceremonial pool for his temple. The pool was splendid with 12 brass oxen surrounding it. The sea measured 10 cubits from one brim to the other, which was the diameter. A line of 30 cubits "did compass it round about" which was the circumference. So, divide 30 by 10 to estimate King Solomon's value for pi.
______________________________________________________
4. The Greek mathematician Archimedes said that pi was more than 3 10/71 but less than 3 1/7. Change both mixed numbers to decimals.
______________________________________________
5. The Chinese people of the fifth century calculated pi as 355/113. Find the decimal equivalent.
______________________________________________
6. Aryabhata was a mathematician in India about 1500 years ago. His value was 62,832 divided by 20,000. Divide to see how close he was.
______________________________________________
7. Bhaskara was a mathematician of India in about the year 1150. He calculated the value of pi as the square root of 10. Use the square root key to find his value.
______________________________________________
8. Use your calculator's pi key to find the value that it uses for pi. _____________________
Which group or person had the best number to use for pi? ____________________________
Which group was the worst? _______________________
Whose value do we use today, as the best fraction for pi? _____________________________
Why do you think that people in history used fractions, and not decimals,
when they needed a numerical value for pi?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment