The infinite life of pi - Reynaldo Lopes

The ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter is always the same: 3.14159... and on and on (literally!) forever. This irrational number, pi, has an infinite number of digits, so we'll never figure out its exact value no matter how close we seem to get. Reynaldo Lopes explains pi's vast applications to the study of music, financial models, and even the density of the universe.

Lesson by Reynaldo Lopes, animation by Igor Coric.

[smsTaRs]

Doctor: On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain?
Patient: Pi.
Doctor: Pi?
Patient: Yes, low level, but never ending.

[steveng]

Why didn't they just make the video 3:14 long

[andrewpereira]

" My son is Pi years old!"
"Wow! That can't be real! Pi is infinite
"He's three..."

[stilljust-me]

If I wrote a random string of numbers, would it be some part of pi, somewhere? For example:
675385898439108439

[isaacbailey]

The real reason why "only the first forty or so" digits of pi are used is because, while a _perfect_ circle has an irrational circumference length, most actual circular shapes are made of ordinary matter, which is, in turn made of a _finite and rational_ amount of _atoms._ This means that, no matter how long the actual number of the circumference is, it _has_ to be rational because the circle can't get smooth enough to become irrational.

[dingle_nut]

you're telling me I can eat an infinite amount of pie? what a world we live in

[donkilluminati]

a ratio that leads to a number that can't be expressed as a ratio of 2 whole numbers. brilliant

[rogerbateria]

So, if you want to be romantic and authentic, you just need to say: "I love you till pi ends"

[weed]

so, technically 3.2 is greater than pi

[_tizzy]

Guy memorized 67, 000 digits


Then fines out he only needed to know 40 for his math test

😶😶

[nagu]

The last one really f*cked my mind good.

[kwertiop]

If Pi is infinite, then somewhere in it there is a 100% chance that there is a long line of 1s and 0s the when put into a computer will show this video.

[KatkaCvachova]

i love TED its better then School ...iam not saying i understand everything but well i can always play the video more than once and it makes me think and question more than School...and for me someone with visual memory and imagination these videos are amazing :) sometimes help !e to understand better because i can see it actually :)

[eldermillennial]

The really irrational thing about Pi is that the notion is predicted on their existing somewhere a perfect circle. Most circles themselves do not actually represent Pi, as they are not a seamless line down to an infinitely infinitesimal sub subatomic scale. The closest any circumference anywhere in the universe comes to this is the event horizon of a super massive black hole, and only when it's surface is not disturbed by feeding. So do true circles really exist?

[blightchip]

The evolution of this mans narration is awesome

[gedstrom]

Considering the amount of work that went into computing pi in the pre-computer days, it is amazing how fast even low-end computers can compute it.  My iPad Air 2 has an app that can compute 25, 000 digits of pi in less than 1.5 seconds.  The app can compute more, up to 500, 000 digits, but the length of time required goes up roughly as the square of the number of digits requested.

[thebanishr]

The music at the end gives me goosebumps and makes me feel enlightened.

[vatsalpandey]

I like how simple and creative these animations are. Really helps one understand the idea and concepts of the video. Great work!🖤

[rdn]

I've learned a lot, Thank TED-Ed ! Great teaching methods !

[kevin-]

They couldn’t make this video 3 minutes and 14 seconds??