Q 01/05

Which ratio in a circle defines the mathematical constant π?

A) Circumference to diameter

B) Circumference to radius

C) Area to diameter

D) Area to radius

Answer · why

A) Circumference to diameter

Circumference to diameter is the ratio π, and it is the same for every circle: anything round, from a coin to a Ferris wheel, is a little over three t...

Q 02/05

Which Welsh mathematician first used the symbol π for the circle constant, in a 1706 textbook?

A) William Jones

B) Robert Recorde

C) Isaac Newton

D) Edmond Halley

Answer · why

A) William Jones

William Jones introduced π in his 1706 Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos, a beginners' book built from his teaching notes, but the symbol only caught on ...

Q 03/05

What type of number is π, meaning it is not a root of any non-zero polynomial with rational coefficients?

A) Algebraic

B) Integer

C) Imaginary

D) Transcendental

Answer · why

D) Transcendental

π is transcendental, as Ferdinand von Lindemann proved in 1882: no polynomial with rational coefficients has it as a root, whereas √2 solves x² = 2 an...

Q 04/05

Which ancient Greek approximated pi using inscribed and circumscribed polygons?

A) Archimedes

B) Pythagoras

C) Euclid

D) Thales

Answer · why

A) Archimedes

Archimedes trapped π between two bounds by drawing hexagons inside and outside a circle, then doubling their sides four times until he was working wit...

Q 05/05

Which book describes a great round basin as ten cubits across and thirty cubits around?

A) The Bible

B) The Quran

C) The Iliad

D) The Vedas

Answer · why

A) The Bible

The Bible's First Book of Kings gives these round figures for the great cast-metal 'Sea' of Solomon's Temple, figures that work out to a π of exactly ...