If you’re new to the world of round math, you is likely to be content material with referring to pi as 3.14. If you’re getting just a little extra busy with geometry, science, or engineering, you may need tacked on a number of further decimal locations in your common calculations. But what concerning the large canines? How many decimal locations do NASA use?
Thankfully, the US area company has been sort sufficient to reply that query. For the very best precision calculations, that are used for interplanetary navigation, NASA makes use of 3.141592653589793 — that’s fifteen decimal locations.
The purpose why is sort of easy, going into any larger precision is pointless. The article demonstrates this by calculating the circumference of a circle with a radius equal to the space between Earth and our most distant spacecraft, Voyager 1. Using the method C=2pir with fifteen decimal locations of pi, you’d solely be off on the true circumference of the circle by a centimeter or so. On photo voltaic scales, there’s no have to go additional.
Ultimately, although, you possibly can calculate pi to a a lot larger precision. We’ve seen it achieved to 10 trillion digits, an effort which flirts with the most recent Marvel films for the title of pure irrelevance. If you’ve achieved it higher or quicker, don’t hesitate to tell us!
