PI Day – 3.14

Who doesn’t like PI?

PI is the constant that yields the radius, circumference and diameters of circles?

I certainly do.

Here are some fractions for approximating PI:

• Best Two Digit Numerator: 22 / 7 (within 0.3%)
• Best Three Digit Numerator: 355 / 113 (within 0.001%)
• Best Four Digit Numerator: 1,065 / 339 (within 0.005%)
• Best Five Digit Numerator: 99,733 / 31746 (within 0.1%)
• Best Six Digit Numerator: 833,719 / 265,381 (within 0.00007%)
• Best Seven Digit Numerator: 5,419,351 / 1,725,033 (within 0.000001%, or as we say in Texas: “Close Enough”)

355/113 has my vote for the most ‘compact’ with good accuracy, least digits.

Happy PI day!

Disclaimer: If actual percentages of error presented above do not match verified pointy-head mathematical results, is is because these PI calculations demonstrate that Microsoft Excel is only accurate to 18 decimal places.

Gunnie Note: The Month.Day (3.14) times the year (2012) = 6,317  is within 17 (0.003%) feet of America’s Most Lethal Sniper – Chris Kyle‘s longest shot: 2,100 yards.