Circumference pi, is represented by the Greek letter . The first few decimal digits of the numerical value of are 3.141592653589793 ... Pi is defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter : Or, equivalently, as the ratio of the circumference to twice the radius. The above formula can be rearranged to solve for the circumference: The use of the mathematical constant is ubiquitous in mathematics, engineering, and science. In "Measurement of a Circle" written circa 250 BCE, Archimedes showed that this ratio (, since he did not use the name ) was greater than 3 but less
Measurement of a Circle two legs being "c" and "r". This proposition is proved by the method of exhaustion. Proposition two states: The area of a circle is to the square on its diameter as 11 to 14. This proposition could not have been placed by Archimedes, for it relies on the outcome of the third proposition. Proposition three states: The ratio of the circumference of any circle to its diameter is greater than formula_1 but less than formula_2. This approximates what we now call the mathematical constant π. He found these bounds on the value of π by inscribing and circumscribing a circle