Eli5: I always thought pi is 22/7, but recently i found out that 22/7 is a number that is pretty close to pi, not pi itself. Then how do mathematicians found more “pi” ?

Question

Eli5: I always thought pi is 22/7, but recently i found out that 22/7 is a number that is pretty close to pi, not pi itself. Then how do mathematicians found more “pi” ?

In: 167

Answer 1

Fun Fact!

NASA uses 15 digits of pi for calculating orbits and landing rovers on Mars.

With 40 digits of pi you can “estimate” the circumference of the known universe with error bars about the size of a single hydrogen atom.

I’m sure mathematicians have a lot of fun calculating more and more and more digits of pi, but it’s done purely for their own entertainment and bragging rights within the pi-hunter community. There is no practical use for digits of pi beyond what you could memorize in half an afternoon if you put your mind to it.