28th of June (6-28 as the Yanks would put it) is Tau day…
What is Tau I hear you ask???
We all know about pi… that number that links the diameter and circumference of a circle. But since we rarely use diameter (we use radius again) we need to add a factor of 2 to all our maths…
e.g.
circumference = 2 x pi x radius
Anything else we do with circles has this extra 2 in it. E.g. Angles in radians – a whole rotation is 2 pi radians.
So along comes Tau where tau = 2 pi
That 2 disappears.
- curcumference = tau x radius
- 1 rotation is tau radians
- Think of the difference that would make to Unit 4 A-level Physics
It’s not taken off yet – but it might… It would not be the first time we changed maths to make it more sensible – like when we went decimal or even the invention of zero.
Have a look at this BBC article for more details
Mr G
Source: BBC News
Mr G's deFScience Blog 