this post was submitted on 17 May 2025
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[–] Lembot_0002@lemm.ee 119 points 2 weeks ago (13 children)

Americans are more fat so they need bigger Pi to keep geometry in touch with reality.

[–] RQG@lemmy.world 57 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Ah yes. I have heard about that.

American Pi.

[–] jimmux@programming.dev 13 points 2 weeks ago

Believe it or not, there is precedent for this.

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[–] slothrop@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago
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[–] Chocrates@lemmy.world 60 points 2 weeks ago (9 children)

It's probably trying to teach kids algebra without using decimals. But it does look messed up. Everyone knows at least 3.14, except kids I guess

[–] deranger@sh.itjust.works 40 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I got my daughter to memorize 50 digits of pi when she was 11 or 12 by betting her $50 she couldn’t.

[–] NichEherVielleicht@feddit.org 19 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I'll remember that, but she is four now....

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[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

My 7-year-old got obsessed and did it from a YouTube video to 100 places because he was bored.

He also knows base 2 to 65536

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[–] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 2 weeks ago

I'm fine with 3, maybe 4, but 5????

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Everyone knows at least 3.14

And biblical authors.

[–] NichEherVielleicht@feddit.org 22 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

In Terry Pratchett's wonderfully witty Discworld novel, Going Postal, the topic of pi comes up in a rather humorous and characteristically Pratchettian way.

The newly appointed Postmaster General, Moist von Lipwig, encounters a rather eccentric inventor named Bloody Stupid Johnson. Bloody Stupid Johnson is known for his, well, stupidly brilliant inventions. One of these inventions is a new kind of postal sorting engine.

When discussing the design of a wheel for this engine, Bloody Stupid Johnson proudly states that he designed it so that pi is exactly three.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 19 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

This is in contrast with how pi is otherwise consistently expressed on the Disc, which is "three and a bit."

Notably, Bloody Stupid Johnson is so skilled/inept that he actually does make pi equal to three within the machine... somehow... which breaks reality in a small amount of space inside it.

Apparently King David had this skill as well, since this is mentioned twice in the old testament:

1 Kings 7:23: And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

[–] jimmux@programming.dev 13 points 2 weeks ago

Clearly π was equal to 3 in old testament times, but geometry got all screwy when Jesus died for our sines.

[–] hinterlufer@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

might also be to teach actually reading the instructions instead of blindly typing pi into the calculator

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[–] chuckleslord@lemmy.world 51 points 2 weeks ago
[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 45 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

Assigning a value of 5 to pi, although ludicrous IRL, doesn't affect the problem. Plug the values into the equation and it will still give an answer that's correct in context.

[–] CannedYeet@lemmy.world 25 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I wish they would have used 22/7 for pi and 7 for the radius or height

[–] Opisek@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago (3 children)

For the benefit of doubt, maybe the test is from an alternate dimension that doesn't use euclidean space.

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[–] bss03@infosec.pub 11 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Do cylinders even exist in metrics where pi = 5 ?

[–] Shardikprime@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Yes. The 3d shape existence is not affected by changing pi values

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[–] hihi24522@lemm.ee 34 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It’s clearly just saying that the surfaces on which the ends of the cylinder lie are metric spaces with distances defined using Chebyshev or Taxicab metrics based on pentagonal tilings of the parabolic plane so the ratio of a circle’s circumference to diameter is 5.

Since it’s a cylinder we assume the vertical dimension is Euclidean and voila the math checks out geometrically.

[–] AstralPath@lemmy.ca 14 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Whoa, amazing!

Astrology is so cool

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[–] ouRKaoS 28 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 21 points 2 weeks ago (8 children)

This question was written by an engineer

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 weeks ago

Nice try, physicists.

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[–] Sibbo@sopuli.xyz 18 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

In America, numbers are just bigger.

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[–] rarbg@lemmy.zip 18 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Calculator not allowed test probably

[–] kamen@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago

Even if so, the other factors are both 10. How hard can it be...

[–] runner_g@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 1 week ago

3.14 would be easy enough to solve this one. r^2*h resolves to 1000, so V would be 3140.

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[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Bye, bye, miss American PI.

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[–] RandomVideos@programming.dev 18 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

What kind of problem gives you the formula and all variable to replace? At this point, why not just write 5•10²•10=?

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 17 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Intro to algebra type stuff to make sure you understand the concept of variables in the first place

[–] PhAzE@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Pi= 5 in this teachers reality. Circles must look wonky.

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[–] thatradomguy@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago

This is how you develop trust issues.

[–] Bort@hilariouschaos.com 16 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Every engineer knows pi is 3 🤦‍♂️

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[–] Jolteon@lemmy.zip 16 points 2 weeks ago

Ah yes, all those imperial units...

[–] Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 week ago

This was written by an engineer. They rounded up to 5 for the safety factor.

[–] YiddishMcSquidish 11 points 1 week ago

It's official, the observable universe is ~3 times larger!

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

3,140, uh, somethings? LOL, I started without realizing they defined pi as 5.

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

In combat conditions Pi can reach 4 and E can reach 3. Maul halten und weiter dienen, all that.

OK. I might be thinking too much into this, but the metric system is good for practical use, but bad for didactic purposes. Some things which could use understanding are "automated" with the metric system.

So making Pi a variable is ... fine. Maybe it's some different geometry where it is.

[–] ZkhqrD5o@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

Ha Ha, non-Euclidian geometry go brr. :)

[–] nuko147@lemm.ee 8 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Man the Americans... everyone knows that π=-10

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[–] TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Just round up to the closest multiple of 5.

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