Comment on Let π = 5

Thunderwolf@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• CameronDev@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  For the purpose of teaching young school kids how to substitute real values for constants/variables, does it matter? π is a constant, but the value you use for it in exams and real life will not be the same, or the actual correct value. Getting students used to the idea that even constants can have varying values in exams or software is useful.

  In my exams π had values ranging from 3, 3.1 to whatever the calculator had. g also ranged from 9.8 to 10, although in fairness g is not a constant.

  At least setting it to 5 can spark debate around what a more reasonable approximation should be.

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  • new_guy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    OP’s problem isn’t even wrong.

    It’s just assuming that π is 5 in this specific scenario, just like it’s reasonable to assume the existence of a spherical cow in a frictionless environment. Yeah, if you use the results of this problem to develop a real cylinder you’re going to have a bad time but nobody is doing that all what’s the problem?

    Nobody is saying that from this point in time and going forward π = 5 and now math is broken forever. People need to chill

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  • bobs_monkey@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    If it’s teaching grade school kids, I would argue it is problematic, only as to not draw confusion on reassigning π away from it’s widely accepted consistent value of ~3.14 for most applications. Once you start getting into theoretical physics and the like, that’s a different story. Math is already a tough subject for many kids and this would just throw another wrench into the learning curve. I’d argue to only start debating the fundamentals and theory after a firm grasp of the fundamentals has been established and practiced repeatedly, preferably in upper level courses.

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    • CameronDev@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I dont quite know what grade school is, but if you mean 12-15yo students, i dont think its that much more confusing?

      π is like x, except that it is usually ~3.14. Sometimes exams or tests will give you a different value.

      I liked math though, so perhaps I am just biased there.

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      • bobs_monkey@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        More or less that age, yeah. I’m guessing you’re outside the US, typically grade school here refers to Kindergarten to 12th grade (basically 5y to 17/18).

        Perhaps this is an American methodology, but we were always taught that π is intended to represent the constant of 3.14 as it applies to circles in geometry and trigonometry, while various variables of x/y/z/etc were values to either be input or solved for. It wasn’t until Calculus that it was suggest that π could be variable dependent on other factors in a certain context, but that was usually pretty rare.

        And yeah I enjoy math as well, but I also helped tutor my peers who didn’t grasp it, so I can understand why it was taught that way (that and our education system is interesting, for lack of a better term).

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• vox@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  i had to solve a couple of problems with stuff like “assuming pi = 3”,… usually to make solving stuff without calculator easier

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• MinekPo1@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  minor nitpick but the value of π is technically a parameter of the space you are operating in . which means it can have any arbitrary value as long as you are willing to operate in non euclidean spaces (and the space we live in is not euclidean though not to a measurable extent unless you are near a black hole)

  but yeah in this context saying π is a constant is as correct as saying you cant take a square root out of a negative number .

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• Orbituary@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Ok, Picard. There clearly are 3.

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