Does there exist a limit for calculating pi?

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Calculating pi through limits is possible, but achieving an exact value is not feasible due to its irrational nature. The discussion highlights that while many limits can approximate pi, they ultimately converge on an infinite series rather than providing a precise figure. Various examples of limits that approach pi were shared, including those derived from geometric principles involving triangles. The conversation also touches on the extensive calculations of pi's digits, noting that supercomputers have reached trillions of digits, emphasizing the complexity of its calculation. Ultimately, while limits can yield values close to pi, they cannot produce an exact representation.
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note that by limit I mean the calculus operation, as in limf(x) as x->a.

I was playing around with numbers earlier today and came up with a limit that gives an exact value for pi. I want to know if others have devised limits that equal to pi, because I am not sure if I am the first because my formula wasn't particularly complicated. If so, please post the formula. I apologize for not posting my limit here, but I hope you will understand why.
 
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polaris12 said:
I was playing around with numbers earlier today and came up with a limit that gives an exact value for pi.
There are lots of series which calculate pi - given an infinite number of terms.
You can't have an exact value of pi - except in the sense of an infinite series
 
You most likely stumbled upon a derivation of one of the many infinite series that calculate out to Pi...

There quite interesting in many cases.
 
Pi is the number of times a diameter goes into its circles circumfrence... you can never have it perfectly accurate. I have a book which shows it to 10,000 digits. As I understant the most accurate super computer gives it to ~10,200. If you looked at a circle with radius 0.5 meters, the diameter would wrap around the circumfrence for 3 meters, 1 decimeter, 4 centimeters, 1 milimeter,... you can keep going and going and going. By deffinition its irrational, it seems like eventually you would get to a perfect spot where the diameter was exactly over the circumfrence without overlapping, alined atom by atom...
 
Coriolis314 said:
As I understant the most accurate super computer gives it to ~10,200.
Not quite, the record is something like 3 trillion digits
 
waste of a good computer & talent lol
 
  • #10
I've found some limits for pi:
-limit for x→0 (360/x*tan(x/2))
-limit for x→∞ (x*sin(180/x))

Just found them with simple geometry to divide the circle into multiple triangles. The first limit brings the arc of a triangle to 0, so it'll be very small. The second limit brings the number of triangles to ∞.

Of course limits for pi exist, but as you can see, it's not possible to calculate it exactly. You can only approach the correct value, in this case by measuring/caculate the sin() or tan() of a very small arc.

edit: I've used degrees.
 
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  • #11
Here's an obvious sequence whose limit is \pi:
3, 3.1, 3.14, 3.141, 3.1415, 3.14159, 3.141592, ... !
 

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