Road Sign Math

I recently received the following email from Noel Norwood regarding some of the constant signs here on Road Sign Math.

I just came across your site today and find it very exciting. I have often thought about mathematical patterns on road signs, but I never have made a record of them. I will, now, and hope to submit some to you soon.

Looking forward to posting your first winner Noel!

I do have a question about your submissions for Pi, however. There are two submission for Pi accurate to only two decimal places and calculated as 22/7. There is a third one that is more interesting, but even less accurate. (I now see that your rules allow accuracy to only 2 decimal places.)

I can’t put my finger on what bothers me about them. I think maybe it is just the comments under the pictures. Don’t say that it is “Only 0.001264 away from pi!” [Slice of Pi]. Actually is it only .0012644892673496186802138 away from being correct to 25 decimal places. I have memorized Pi to 770 decimal places and Pi has been accurately calculated to 1.2 trillion decimal places. So, to say that 22/7 is only .001264 away from pi is somewhat oversimplifying the great mathematical constant, pi.

Congratulations on your accomplishment! Memorizing Pi to 770 decimla places is very impressive. I would comment that 22/7 is actually used in the first theoretical calculation of Pi by Archimedes. Archimedes theorized that Pi was greater than 223/71 and less than 22/7! However that doesn’t mean that it is a good approxmation of Pi. Pi fans, try searching Pi for your phone number, I found mine!

Saying “22 factors into 7 exceeding close to one of the most famous constants of all” just kind of rubs me wrong. 22/7 is accurate to 2 decimal places only and is not exceedinly close to Pi, nor is it accurate to .001264 of Pi. Since this is a math site I just think that we need to treat Pi (and other constants) with more respect. I love the submissions, I just think that the wording needs to be made more accurate.

I agree completely with you Noel. These mathematical constants, particularly Pi, are very special and should be given more reverence. I’m going to take your advice and modify some of these previous postings slightly to reflect their actual relationship to Pi.

I still find those submission very interesting and I hope to find some of my own. David Slauenwhite’s submission for e [Euler? Anybody? Euler?] is incredible, and it is accurate to 3 decimal places!

Maybe an award could be held by the submission which is most accurate. Of the three pi submissions, Trout Pi and Slice of Pi would hold the award. It will now become my quest to find one even more accurate.

I’ve considered a contest to get closest to a constant like Pi, and I think it would be a great thing. Consider it game on. We will see who can get closest to Pi and I’ll have a special constant-winner Road Sign Math shirt made for the winner! I realize it’s not a million bucks, but the bragging rights are great!

The field is wide open here. The existing submissions for Pi have used pretty basic math. However, there is no reason you could not submit a formula that uses integrals or more advanced techniques of deriving Pi. The only requirement is that every number must be represented on the sign of course. For example, this simple division is closer than anything on Road Sign Math thus far. [Calculate]

However, using trigonometry we can derive Pi to 620 decimal places using [Calculate]

Finding a sign with three 1′s, 3, two 4′s, 20 and 1,985 may not be easy, but how amazing would that be! The Chronology of Pi has dozens of good suggestions on deriving Pi, following the history of Pi itself.

The constant signs are an esoteric section of Road Sign Math and I am open to recommendations on the rules. The current rules are designed mainly for small constants. Please send in submissions for other constants like c, that are very large, and we’ll refine things as they progress.