this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2025
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Math Memes

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(the title says "circle number", but there is no appropriate english translation that i could find)

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's just more intuitive to use tau.

Take for example, the area of a circle.

If we define circumference as C = τr, then we can actually just use the general formula for an area of a polygon (A = 1/2 p a), which for a circle (infinite-sided polygon) becomes A = 1/2 τr r. C=p and r=a is just circle vs polygon language.

Of course πr^2 is the same formula, it's just obscured a little bit more. But now you can see why it's not always 2π - it's because we actually did divide tau in half.

Anyway, I just think its kinda neat. I don't think tau will catch on though 🙂.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Please label your variables! Here's a table for you to fill in:

  • | name | meaning | dimension |
  • | r | radius of a circle | length |

By providing this information, you make your math more accessible!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Sorry, I would have done a better job, but that post was already super tedious to do in mobile. And r is the only variable I failed to define at all, but I figured people with opinions on pi would already know that one 🙂