Tags
Related Posts
Share This
Pi is wrong – Tau day is coming
Tired of always getting 
One of the strangest mathematical stories I have come across is that “Pi is wrong”. If you want to know more then look at the following video that I have produced in time for Tau Day on June 28.
You can find more at www.tauday.com or Bob Palais’ page.
Get the newsletter! Fancy a newsletter keeping you up-to-date with maths news, articles, videos and events you might otherwise miss? Then sign up below. (No spam and I will never share your details with anyone else.)
As a physics teacher, I am unble to see a valid reason for replacing pi by tau. Actually, in maths books, one can find i) C = (pi)D where C is circumference and D is diameter and ii) C = 2(pi)R where C is circumference and R is radius. These equations are based on the fact that the diameter of a circle is twice its radius. As long as this geometrical fact is not disproved, I can not accept the change from pi to tau. Feel free to contact me directly.
Lastly, 40/50 digists appearing after the deciml point in the numerical vlue of pi in books of maths do not impress me at all. I tell students to insist on measuring the diameter and the circumference of circular object and then calculate the numericl value of pi.
Hello, thanks for the comment. Maybe it would be more acceptable to you if I said we are not replacing pi with tau but replacing 2 pi with tau. Feel free to continue using pi, it’s useful in many situations. My main point is that tau is the correct constant to associate to a circle. If aliens from another planet were to visit us, I’m sure they would be surprised to find that we use pi rather than 2 pi.