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Learn more about "Circumference"
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Circumference
The '''circumference''' is the distance around a closed curve. Circumference is a special perimeter.
Circumference of a circle
The circumference of a circle is the length around it.
The circumference of a circle can be calculated from its diameter using the formula:
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Or, substituting the radius for the diameter:
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where ''r'' is the radius and ''d'' is the diameter of the circle, and π (the Pi (letter)|Greek letter pi) is pi|defined as the ratio of the circumference of the circle to its diameter (the numerical value of pi is 3.141 592 653 589 793...).
Circumference of an ellipse
The circumference of an ellipse is more problematic, as the exact solution requires finding the complete elliptic integral of the second kind. This can be achieved either via numerical integration (the best type being Gaussian quadrature) or by one of many binomial series expansions.
Where are the ellipse's semi-major axis|semi-major and semi-minor axis|semi-minor axes, respectively, and is the ellipse's angular eccentricity,
There are many different approximations for the Difference quotient|divided difference, with varying degrees of sophistication and corresponding accuracy.
In comparing the different approximations, the based series expansion is used to find the actual value:
Muir-1883
- Probably the most accurate to its given simplicity is Thomas Muir (mathematician)|Thomas Muir's:
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Ramanujan-1914 (#1,#2)
- Srinivasa Ramanujan introduced ''two'' different approximations, both from 1914
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- The second equation is demonstratively by far the better of the two, and may be the most accurate approximation known.
Letting ''a'' = 10000 and ''b'' = ''a''×cos{''oε''}, results with different ellipticities can be found and compared:
Circumference of a graph
In graph theory the circumference of a graph (mathematics)|graph refers to the longest cycle (graph theory)|cycle contained in that graph.
External links
- Numericana - Circumference of an ellipse
- Circumference of a circle With interactive applet and animation
Category:Geometry
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Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
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