Juli
On Sun, 1 Sep 1996, Murphy wrote:
> William T. Yates wrote:
> >
> > Juli Kuhl wrote:
> > >
> > > you wrote that "a round basin 30 cubits around and 10 across...
> > > should be 31.41592635389793238... cubits"
> > >
> > > maybe there's another way of looking at this: 30 cubits around
> > > could be the *perimeter* and 10 across could be the distance
> > > of the two widest points of the circle, no? How does that
> > > work out mathematically (in round numbers, please. I'm not a
> > > mathematician.) Just wondering.
> > >
> > > I agree with the rest of your posting re: liberal/literal euphemizing.
> > >
> > > Juli Kuhl
> >
> > Back to Geometry 101, Juli! The "perimeter" of a circle is the same as
> > it's circumference. The distance of the two widest points on the circle
> > would be the diameter. And the relationship of the circumference to the
> > diameter of a circle is defined as pi (3.141592653589793238.....). All
> > the decimal places mean that pi is what is called an 'irrational'
> > number. That's rational from ratio, not reason. It can't be represented
> > by a fraction. Therefore, if the diameter is 10 cubits, then the
> > circumference is 31.4159..etc.. If the circumference is 30 cubits, the
> > diameter must be 9.5493... cubits. No way around it. :)
> > --
> >
> > --
> > --Bill Yates
> > --wtyates@vcnet.com
> > --wtyates@aol.com
> > --http://www.vcnet.com/wtyates/wtyates.html
>
> PI is 3 to one significant figure.
> There are numbers in the Bible which one has to ask questions
> about, perhaps because they are used symbolically or to give a
> deliberately grandiose effect - e.g., some of the sizes of armies or
> monetary amounts in Chronicles. But this approximate value of pi is
> simply that - an approximation.
> (EN PASSANT, Roman engineers used 3 - 1/8 for pi. They knew
> that 3 - 1/7 is closer, but eighths are easier to work with.)
> George Murphy
>