JAMSHED AL KASHIS DISCOVERY

In 1424 CE Al-Kashi finished his most famous work, the Risala almuhitiyya (Treatise on the Circumference). In this he calculated pi, (the ratio of a circles circumference to its diameter) to sixteen decimal places.

What is p ?
The number is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. The widely used approximation in mathematics is 3.142

G 1 unit D J

1 unit A2

 Early Greeks originated the notion that an approximation of a circle (and its circumference and area) could be made by constructing regular polygons. The more sides on the polygon, the closer the figure resembled the circle (and its circumference and area). Archimedes used this notion to obtain a geometrically based estimate of pi. He inscribed and circumscribed polygons of 96 sides within and about a circle. Then, calculating the areas of the two polygons and determining the area of the circle to be between these two values, he approximated pi to be between and . In todays notation, these values are accurate to two decimal places. So very simply the less amount of space left the better because greater the number of sides of the polygon the more amount of space is being taken up.

 Now, we know that the idea of finding pi is to inscribe polygons inside the circle, and to keep on doubling the sides to get an accurate value. If we kept on doubling the sides and making polygons, that would be a lot of work. Wouldnt it be easier if we just had a formula and we could plug in the lengths of the polygons and get the value of pi? It would be, and thats exactly what al-kashi set out to do.

 We know that triangles DAZ and ADB are similar:A C2 C2 D

So, AB = C (Cross Multiply) C AZ C =AB.AZ=2(1+HZ) =2+2HZ I

 Al Kashi then found a second equation: HZ=AJ= 1C II 2 He substituted this in I:C = 2+2(1 C )=2+C 2 Now we know that the diameter of the circle is 2, and it is the hypotenuse of triangle AGB:
G C1 A1 2 B

 Pythagoras Theorem: 2 =C +A C =2 -A =4-1 =3=1.73205 and from the previous formula [C =2+C ], we plug the value of C in: C2=2+C =1.93186. Now for triangle ADB (dodecagon)
D
C2 A2

Now as before we will use the pythagoras theorem:

 2 = C +A Since we know the value of Both C1 and C2, we now need to find the value of A2. Remember, A1/A2 and C/C2 are the lengths of the polygon. These are important as they will help us find the value of pi, especially A1/A2 as they are the lengths which will be used for finding circumference, and therefore pi. C/C2 helps us find the values of the important lengths A1/A2. So, A2=2 -C =4-C2 (we know the values of C2, so we will just plug it in and find A2)

 A2=0.51763. Now A2 was the length of one side of the dodecagon, which was inscribed in the circle. We know that the circumference of the circle is 2pi. Since you cant find lengths of circles, you use lengths of polygons. So what would be the circumference of the dodecagon? 2pi=A2 x 12 as the length of one side of the dodecagon, and dodecagon in total has 12 sides. pi=0.51763x12 = 3.10582. 2

 We can improve value of pi by having polygons with greater no. of sides to get greater accuracy. This formula doesnt only work for hexagons or dodecagons, but any polygon. So in general the formula is, C =2+C -AND A =4-C