I understand that it IS pi, but I don’t understand what “ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter” means.
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Think of a square. No matter how large or how small you make it, all 4 sides are the same size, so the perimeter of the square is 4 times the width of the square. In other words, the ratio of the perimeter to the side of the square is 4.
Now think of a circle inside that square such that the edges of the circle touch the sides of the square. In other words, the diameter of the circle is equal to the side of the square. The circumference of a circle is just the perimeter of the circle. By looking at the picture of a circle inside the square it’s immediately obvious that the perimeter of the circle is smaller than the perimeter of the square, therefore the perimeter of the circle (the circumference) has to be less than 4 times the side of the square (the diameter of the circle). How much less? That is the question. Well it turns out that it’s about 3.14 (pi) times. In other words, the ratio of the perimeter (aka circumference) to the side (aka diameter) of the circle is pi.
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