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The infinite life of pi - Reynaldo Lopes

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The ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter is always the same: 3.14159... and on and on (literally!) forever. This irrational number, pi, has an infinite number of digits, so we'll never figure out its exact value no matter how close we seem to get. Reynaldo Lopes explains pi's vast applications to the study of music, financial models, and even the density of the universe.


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TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Director Igor Coric
  • Educator Reynaldo Lopes
  • Narrator Addison Anderson
Additional Resources for you to Explore
Famous in math, pi is crucial in the world of physics as well. But how do we write it?
Search 2,000,000,000 decimal digits of Pi, E, the Square Root of 2, and 500M digits of Phi (the Golden Ratio) for the first occurrence of a numeric string, or return 100 digits beginning from the specified starting position (excluding the first whole number digit).
How accurately can we calculate pi using hundreds of REAL pies? Find out!
March 14, otherwise known as 3/14 is a special day! For any math enthusiast, these numbers will certainly set off a bell — they are the first three digits of pi. To help you celebrate Pi Day, here are two TED Talks.
Here are 10 YouTube Videos for Math Geeks.

Customize This Lesson

Create and share a new lesson based on this one.

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Director Igor Coric
  • Educator Reynaldo Lopes
  • Narrator Addison Anderson

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