eli5 Is there a reason that the decimals of pi go on forever (or at least appear to)? Or do it just be like that?

Question

Edit: Thanks for the answers everyone! From what I can gather, pi just do be like that, and other irrational numbers be like that too.

In: 5168

Answer 1

It just be like that.

Pi is an *irrational* number, which means that it cannot be (fully and accurately) expressed as a ratio of two integers. That means that, as a decimal expression, the digits will just go on and on without any clear pattern.

By contrast, *rational* numbers (which can all be expressed as a ratio of two integers) have decimal expressions that either terminate (like 3/4 = 0.75 exactly) or repeat (like 1/3 = 0.33333…).

The real numbers are far more dense in the irrationals, tho.