Yes it does have to be pi because that’s the formula for the volume of a cylinder. If you take a simple, cylindrical glass and measure it and apply the formula with pi, you’ll see that you’ll get the correct volume of the glass. If you just want your kids to calculate a random x that’s 51010*10 just tell them to do that don’t give them a made up formula, it’s not that difficult.
Comment on Let π = 5
gimpchrist@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Nobody knows how to think like a dyscalculic at all haha… it’s just a little symbol thingy… it doesn’t have to be pi. Just like X is a little symbol thingy… the x is now just kind of a table right now… it’s just a little symbol thingy and it means five it’s not that difficult. Lmao
nyctre@lemmy.world 5 months ago
gimpchrist@lemmy.world 5 months ago
[deleted]nyctre@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Well, let me put it another way. You don’t need to have an opinion on everything. It’s okay to not understand something and not have an opinion on it.
gimpchrist@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I’m dyscalculic… I’m allowed to have an opinion on it this is how my brain works
petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 months ago
Mathematically, no, it does not. We make up the definitions. If you wanted to see what the consequences of a, I don’t know, 5-dimensional universe with Pi set to 5.65 were, you can do that. These are scribbles on pages, there is literally nothing stopping you.
Academically, what’s stopping you is whether these calculations are useful. The only problem I see here is that it’s kind of misleading to imply to someone that Pi is something it conventionally isn’t. But even then, I think I’d respect the mathematician who could recognize Pi as a symbolic name for, usually, one particular transcendental constant a little bit more than one who refused to even entertain the idea. Like, imagination is important to mathematics, too.
And to be clear, “let Pi = 3.14” is also incorrect. It is closer than 5, but it is still infinitely wrong.
Agrivar@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Here’s a little LPT for you: you can be correct without being an obnoxious douchebag about it.
petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 months ago
Yeah, “symbol thingy” is setting me off rn.
The only thing that can help me is filing my taxes incorrectly.
FanBlade@lemmynsfw.com 5 months ago
Your message reads kinda douchey.