Math · 3
Archimedes derived his famously precise approximation of pi around 250 BC by using polygons with how many sides at most?
Answer
96
Archimedes inscribed and circumscribed regular polygons inside and around a circle, doubling the number of sides repeatedly starting from a hexagon. He stopped at 96-sided polygons, which gave him the bounds 223/71 < π < 22/7 — accurate to within 0.04%.
💡 Did you know?
Archimedes calculated pi so accurately in 250 BC that his bounds weren't beaten until 1000 years later, using only geometry and patience.
Other options people guess
- 48
- 72
- 128
Topics
- archimedes
- pi
- geometry
- ancient-greece
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