Investigation in Mathematics: The Fascinating Number

By Paul Asquith 10227169

Summary
Throughout this report we have seen how various mathematicians or civilisations have discovered approximations of . We initially started by looking at the earliest approximation of , which was given by the Babylonians and has been dated to approximately 1900 BC. It was shown that the Babylonians believed that the ratio of the perimeter of a regular inscribed hexagon to the circumference of a circle is , which suggests the Babylonians believed the value of to be . We then went on to see second earliest approximation of was given by an ancient Egyptian scroll called the Rhind papyrus and has been dated to roughly 1650 BC. In this papyrus the Egyptians stated that in order to find the area of a circle you must shorten the diameter of the circle by 1/9 and then square the result, we saw that by doing this the value of suggested by the ancient Egyptians was . We then looked at the first ever theoretical calculation of , given in 240 BC by the Sicilian born mathematician Archimedes. By inscribing and circumscribing 96 sided polygons about a circle Archimedes found that:

Archimedes method of inscribing and circumscribing polygons was so advanced for the time that it was still used by mathematicians for over a thousand years in order to get better approximations of . After Archimedes we began to look at various infinite products and series for , the first of which was given in 1593 by Francois Vite.

Initially we looked at how the area of a polygon inscribed in a circle changed when the number of sides of the polygon is doubled, We then applied this to a square inscribed in the unit circle, which proved Vites infinite product . We then went on to look at the infinite product given in 1655 by the English mathematician John Wallis. This infinite product was:

( ) We saw that by evaluating the integral In we were able to prove Wallis infinite product. This was the first time that was expressed only with rational numbers. The first infinite series we looked at was:

This was given by Gottfried Leibniz in 1674. We proved this series by looking at the area of a quarter of the unit circle, which we calculated using infinitely small triangles.

Finally we looked at the series for

, which was given by Leonard Euler in 1736.

We saw that Eulers initial derivation of the series was not a fully valid proof. Euler did subsequently proof the series for , but instead of looking at this we looked at one of the elementary proofs given after Eulers time that showed the series to be true.

Contents

Introduction Babylonians (c. 1900 BC) Ancient Egyptians The Rhind Papyrus (c1650 BC) Archimedes (240BC) Francois Vite (1593) John Wallis (1655) Gottfried Leibniz (1674) Leonhard Euler (1736) Appendices References

1 2 3 4 11 14 18 23 29 32

Introduction
For thousands of years it has been known that the ratio of circumference to diameter of a circle is constant [1]. This constant is known as and can be represented algebraically as Or Where A is the area, C the circumference, D the diameter and r the radius of a circle. The symbol for is the Greek letter for p and is believed to have been used because it is the first letter in perimetron, meaning perimeter [2]. is an irrational number, meaning it has an infinite number of decimal places with no repeating pattern [3], it is also transcendental, meaning that it is not a root of a polynomial equation with integer coefficients [4]. Approximations of have dated back as far as c1900 BC where ancient Babylonian tablets have suggested a value of as . The first theoretical calculation of was given by Archimedes in 240BC, where he inscribed and circumscribed 96-sided polygons to show that:

After Archimedes, Many mathematicians including Vite, Leibniz, Newton, Euler and Gauss have attempted to gain a greater understanding of , whether this is calculating to a greater degree of accuracy or representing as an infinite product or series. Even in modern history, where there is no practical use for us to know to any more digits, it is still being calculated to increasing degrees of accuracy and with the use of computers the current record for calculating stands at 10 trillion digits [5]. The aim of this report is to look at various calculations or representations of that have been discovered in pre-computer history, with a particular focus on the proofs of such calculations/representations.

Babylonians (c. 1900 BC)

In ancient Babylon, the Babylonians generally calculated the area of a circle by taking three times [6] the square of its radius; this suggests an approximation of . However in 1936 a set of [7] tablets were unearthed about 200-300 miles from Babylon , these tablets have been dated to approximately 1900-1680 BC [6]. The tablets have suggest a value of pi as:

The tablets were focused on the ratio of areas and perimeters of regular polygons to their respective side lengths. One particular piece of clay noted that the Babylonians believed that: The ratio of the perimeter of a regular inscribed hexagon to the circumference of the circle is: 0;57,36 [2] The Babylonians used a base 60, or sexagecimal, number system (Our habit of giving 360o to a circle, 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour are cultural artefacts passed down to us from the Babylonians) [8]. So in Sexagecimal numeral system 0; 57, 36 So perimeter of inscribed regular hexagon = = A regular hexagon is made of six equilateral triangles. Since a hexagon is inscribed in the circle, the length of each side of the triangle is r and the perimeter of the hexagon is therefore 6r. So 6r = (circumference of circle) [9]

Ancient Egyptians The Rhind Papyrus (c1650 BC)

In 1858 a Scottish lawyer and antiquarian, Alexander Henry Rhind, on one of his trips to the Nile valley purchased a document that had been found a few years earlier in the ruins of a small building in Thebes [10]. This Document, subsequently named the Rhind papyrus, was 18 feet long and 13 inches high, it contained 87 different mathematical problems with their solutions, including equations, volumes of cylinders and areas of triangles, rectangles and circles [11]. The Rhind papyrus is also known as the Ahmes papyrus in honour of Ahmes the scribe who copied it in 1650 BC [12]. Ahmes begins by saying that he has copied this work from a very old scroll from a couple of hundred years earlier, then goes on to say that he will provide a "complete and thorough study of all things" and will reveal "the knowledge of all secrets" , which refers to the 87 problems contained in the papyrus[13]. Our focus is going to be on problem 50 in the papyrus. We will show that the ancient Egyptians approximation of pi was . Unfortunately the way in which they managed to find this approximation was not given in the papyrus [14]. Problem 50 of the Rhind papyrus reads: A circular field has diameter 9 khet. What is its area? (A khet being a measurement of length approximately equivalent to 50 metres)[15]. The solution given in the papyrus is: Take away 1/9 of it, namely 1; the remainder is 8. Multiply 8 times 8; it makes 64. Therefore it contains 64 setat [15]. (A setat being one square khet). What does this mean? Ahmes has stated that to find the area of this circle we must shorten the diameter by 1/9 and square the result. So given a circle of diameter of 9 khet: ( ) = 8

82 = 64 setat And this, according to the papyrus, is the area of the circle of diameter 9 khet. The General Solution If we take the solution to this problem as a general formula, then we can acquire a formula for the area of a circle (A) given the diameter of the circle (d). A = ( ) ( )

We know that

( )
[15]

So

Archimedes (240BC)
Archimedes was born in the city of Syracuse on the island of Sicily in 287 BC. He was the son of an astronomer and mathematician named Phidias [16]. He was also on intimate terms, if not related to king Hieron II of Syracuse [17]. In his younger years Archimedes travelled to Egypt in order to pursue his mathematics education in Alexandria [18]. It is here that he studied under the followers of the renowned mathematician Euclid [19]. But, he soon returned to Syracuse, where he accomplished most of his work [18]. Although he was renowned for his contribution to mathematics, Archimedes also designed many mechanical inventions [18]. One particular story recounts how a perplexed King Hieron was unable to empty rainwater from the hull of one of his ships and turned to Archimedes for assistance. Archimedes solution was to create a machine, now known as Archimedes screw, which was a screw like contraption contained in a hollow tube and when turned by a handle at the end it would raise the water out of the hull of the ship. This is still used as a method of irrigation in developing countries to this day [16]. Because his skill in mechanical objects was unequalled, king Hieron often required Archimedes to improve the defences of the city [18]. Archimedes obliged and invented multiple devices for the citys defence. Archimedes' claw was one such invention; it was shaped like a crane arm, from which a large metal hook was balanced. When the claw was dropped on an attacking ship, it would lift the ship by swinging the arm upwards and then sink the ship [20]. Another such invention of Archimedes is known as the burning mirrors. He erected large mirrors placed at designated locations on land and positioned them in such a way that it targeted enemy ships at sea. Once the sunbeams reflected off the mirrors, it ignited the enemy ships within moments [21]. Other notable devices were catapults ingeniously constructed to be equally accurate at short or long range and machines for discharging showers of missiles through holes made in the walls [17]. Despite his numerous inventions Archimedes was said to have been more dedicated to pure theory rather than the practical applications of mathematics [18]. An example of this is Archimedes' use of an exhaustion method, cutting up shapes into infinitely small pieces to discover their volumes. This method paved the way for what we now call integral calculus [22]. Archimedes regarded these discoveries regarding the volumes and surface areas of solids as his most important and most beautiful achievements. Archimedes favourite was said to have been his discovery that a sphere has a volume and surface area two-thirds that of the cylinder that circumscribes it [23]. For two years the machines developed for Syracuses defence had kept the Romans, led by General Marcellus, at bay. Nevertheless, during the siege of Syracuse in 212 BC, Marcellus force managed to take the city [16]. Apparently Archimedes was not concerned with the siege taking place as his attentions were focused on making mathematical diagrams in the sand at his home. Then, even though Marcellus had given strict orders that the mathematician not be harmed, a roman soldier broke into Archimedes house and spoiled his diagram, and then when Archimedes voiced his displeasure, the soldier promptly slew him. At this time Archimedes was 75 years old [18] . Marcellus was greatly distressed upon hearing the news of Archimedes' death, and ordered that he be buried with honours. Archimedes' tombstone was, as he had wished, engraved with an image of a sphere within a cylinder [16]. Our focus will be on Archimedes approximation of pi which he gives in On the Measurement of the Circle. He used a method of fitting polygons inscribed and circumscribed about a given circle

5 and knew that the circumference of the circle will lie between the two perimeters of the polygons [24] .
[25]

He initially uses a hexagon circumscribing the circle then uses it to calculate the perimeters of a 12, 24, 48 and finally 96 sided polygon; he then repeats using inscribed polygons [24]. By this method Archimedes managed to find that:

We will now look at the Method Archimedes used to get this approximation of pi. Please note that throughout this proof Archimedes used approximations to various square roots and left no indication to how he got these approximations [24]. When one of these approximations appear it will be indicated with ***. Through the proof Archimedes also used Proposition 3 of book VI of Euclids Elements, this will be denoted as Euclid VI. 3 and can be found in Appendix A1. Part 1 Fitting Circumscribed Polygon Let AB be the diameter of any circle, O its centre, AC the tangent at A and let the angle AOC be one third of a right angle.
Then OA : AC = : 1 265 : 153 (*** ) (see Appendix A2) (see Appendix A2)

OC : AC = 2 : 1 = 306 : 153

Draw OD bisecting the angle AOC and meeting AC at point D

Now OC : OA = CD : AD Therefore OC + OA : AC = OA : AD & we can calculate OA : AD
(Euclid VI. 3) (CD+AD = AC) (multiply by OA and divide by AC)

*This Means

**So by using

Hence We Know

OA : AD
2 2

571 : 153
2

OD = OA + AD

(Pythagoras theorem)

6
(***

So that

OD : AD

: 153

Secondly, let OE bisect the angle AOD Meeting AD at point E

Now OD : OA = DE : AE OD + OA : AD = OA : AE we can calculate OA : AE OA : AE We know 2 2 2 OE = OA + AE (by similar steps to **) (see Euclid VI. 3) (By using similar steps to *)

Now by using

(Pythagoras theorem)

( So that

)
(*** )

OE : AE

Thirdly, let OF Bisect angle AOE and meet the line AE At point F
Now OE : OA = EF : AF OE + OA : AE = OA : AF we can calculate OA : AF OA : AF We Know 2 2 2 OF = OA + AF (by similar steps to **) (By using similar steps to *)

Now by using

(Pythagoras theorem) ( )

So that

OF : AF

(***

Fourthly, let OG bisect the angle AOF, meeting AF at point G

Now OF : OA = FG : GA OF + OA : AF = OA : AG we can calculate OA : AG OA : AG (by similar steps to **) (see Euclid VI. 3) (By using similar steps to *)

Now by using

What Have we Done Up Until This Point?

The angle AOC (one third of a right angle) has been bisected four times, the fourth time by line OG, from this information we can deduce that: AOG (a right angle) (a right angle)
[24]

Now create angle AOH on the other side of OA, let this angle be equal to the angle AOG.Let AG produced meet OH at H (see diagram right) then:

7
( ) (a right angle)

GOH

(a right angle)

So GH is one side of a regular polygon of 96 sides (1/24 of a right angle is 1/96 of a complete circle). This 96-gon circumscribes the given circle because we have constructed the polygon so that centre of every side touches the circle (in the case of side GH, the centre, point A, touches the circle). Now Recall This means OA : AG , AB = 2OA & GH = 2AG

So
We know that because the perimeter of the 96-gon is

larger than the circumference of the given circle (since the 96-gon circumscribes the circle).

Hence

Part 2 fitting inscribed polygon

Let AB be the diameter of a circle and let AC, meeting the circle at C make the angle CAB which is equal to one third of a right angle. Now Join Points B and C. Then AC : BC = : 1 1351 : 780 (*** ) (see Appendix A2)

Let AD bisect CAB, meet BC at point d and meet the circle at point D. Join points B and D
The angles at points C and D are both right angles because the angle inscribed on a semi-circle is always a right angle (see Appendix A3).

So

(because the line AD bisects BAC leaving theses two equal angles) (angle at C is a right angle) (opposite angles of two intersecting lines are always equal) (angle at D is a right angle)

It has just been shown that the triangles ADB, ACd and BDd are similar, because we have just shown that all of their angles must be equal. Therefore AD : BD = BD : Dd = AC : Cd

By using Euclid VI. 3 on triangle ABC Cd : Bd = AC : AB AB : Bd = AC : Cd So AD : BD = AC : Cd = AB : Bd = (AB + AC) : (Bd + Cd) = (AB + AC) : BC

(multiply each ratio by AB and divide by Cd)

We Know AB : BC = 2:1 = 1560 : 780 AC : BC 1351 : 780 :1 (see Appendix A2)

So Then

AD : BD
2 2

1560 + 1351 : 780

2

2911 : 780

(by similar steps to **) (by Pythagoras Theorem)

AB = AD + BD

So that

AB : BD

(***

Secondly let AE bisect angle BAD, meet BD at point e and meet the circle at point E. Join points B and E.
We then use the same approach as in the last part i.e. by showing that triangles AEB, ADe & BEe are similar, then using similar steps to the last part. By doing this we see that by using AE : BE = AB + AD : BD So We know AE : BE
2 2

we can calculate AE : BE (by similar steps to **)

1823 : 240
2

AB = AE + BE

(by Pythagoras Theorem)

Therefore

AB : BE

(***

Thirdly, Let AF bisect BAE meeting the circle at Point F We will prove this in the same way as the previous two parts.
So by Using we can calculate AF : BF (by similar steps to **)

AF : BF = AB + AE : BE So We know AF : BF AB
2 2

1007 : 66
2

= AF + BF

(by Pythagoras Theorem)

Therefore

AB : BF

(***

Fourthly, Let angle BAF be bisected by line AG meeting the circle at G

Again this will be proved in the same way as the previous three parts parts So by using we can calculate AG : BG (by similar steps to **)

AG : BG = AB + AF : BF

So We know

AG : BG AB
2

= AG + BG

(by Pythagoras Theorem)

Therefore Meaning that

AB : BG BG : AB

(***

What have we done Up Until This Point?

The angle BAG is the fourth bisection of angle BAC, which is one third of a right angle. So BAG (a right angle) (a right angle)
[24]

Therefore

BOG

(a right angle) (See Appendix 4)

Therefore BG is one side of a regular 96-gon that is inscribed in the circle (1/24 of a right angle is 1/96 of a complete circle), it is inscribed in the circle because we have constructed it in such a way that each vertex of the polygon touches the circle. So we have (using result from
)

We know

(because polygon is inscribed in the circle)

Hence

So we have seen that the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle, or , is:
[24, 26 & 27]

Archimedes approximation of pi is the first ever theoretical calculation of pi and it is a testament to his method that a more accurate approximation for pi was not obtained for about 400 years. There was no reason that Archimedes could not have continued his iterations and fitted polygons with a larger number of sides to get a more accurate approximation of pi. In fact numerous people did exactly that, including:

Ptolemy (150 AD) 4 places (

) 360-gon

10 Francois Viete (1593) 9 places - 393,216-gon Romanus (1593) 17 places -gon Van Ceulen (1600) 35 places -gon

[28]

11

Francois Vite (1593)

Franois Vite (or Vieta, as he is often known by his Latinized name) was born in 1540 in Fontenay-le-Comte, France [29]. He attended the University of Poitiers and graduated with a law degree in 1560, only to abandon the profession four years later [30] in order to pursue a career in science and mathematics and in 1571 he published his first mathematical work called mathematical laws applied to triangles [31]. Vite lived a very political life. In 1573, Charles IX appointed him to the government of Brittany. In 1580, Henry III appointed him royal privy counsellor [32].But, in 1584 Vite was banished from the court for his protestant faith, he then continued to spend the next five years devoting himself to mathematical pursuits. Then in 1588, when Henry III was forced to flee to Paris, Vite was made a member of the kings parliament at Tours. In 1589, upon the murder of Henry III, Vite entered the service of Henry IV [31]. During this service he was tasked with decoding a difficult Spanish cipher, which had a 500-character code. When Vite deciphered the code the King of Spain, Convinced that it was unbreakable, accused the French of using black magic [33], but in this case it was mathematics rather than sorcery [31]. Aside from his political work, Vite continued his personal pursuit of mathematics [33] and in 1591 he published Introduction to the Analytic Art [31], which is considered to be his most important work. Vite's major contribution in this book was his innovative treatment of algebraic equations [34] . He introduced the use of letters as variables to denote both the known and unknown quantities [33]. This was the beginning of a new type of algebra, expressed in terms of abstract formulas and general rules, instead of the geometric visualizations [34], Allowing the painless rearrangement of equations. Vites pioneering symbol system completely altered the field of mathematics, rightfully earning him the title as the Father of Modern Algebra [33]. Vite also wrote books on trigonometry and geometry, which contained geometrical solutions to doubling a cube and trisecting an angle. As well as this in 1593 he calculated pi to 10 places using a polygon of 393216 sides. He also represented pi as an infinite product using only square roots and twos [32]. This infinite product will be what we focus on now.

Proof Let 2 be the angle at the centre of a regular polygon that has N sides and is inscribed in a circle of radius r, therefore is the angle at the centre of the inscribed regular polygon with 2N sides. We can see that: OF = OA = r AB = 2AF = 2(OA

) = 2r

Let AN denote the area of the N-sided polygon Then AN = = N =

12 If the number of sides of a polygon is doubled, then the angle at the centre of the polygon is halved, hence: A2N = 2Nr2 We can see that: AN = A2N Similarly A4N = 4Nr2 So A2N = A4N = 2Nr2 (by double angle formula) = Nr2 (by the double angle formula)

By using similar steps to above we see * AN = A2N A2N = A4N A4N = A8N

So let us use this information. We will begin by looking at a Square inscribed in the circle of radius one. Calculate Area of inscribed Square (A4) A4 = (HI)2 = = 2

So for the inscribed square, use * with: N = 4, A4 = 2 & 2 = A4 = A8 By reiterating we get 2 = A16 = A32

13 As the number of sides of the inscribed polygon tends to infinity the area of the polygon will tend towards the area of the circumscribed circle. i.e. when k tends to infinity, So 2 = A = tends towards A (where A is the area of the circle)

The circumscribed circle is of radius one, so A = Therefore 2 =

=
We know that Let U0 = U1 = = = = =

U2 =

Un = =

So Using this we get

= U0 U1 U2 U3

where

so U0 =

(See Appendix B)

Or alternatively = U0 U1 U2 U3 And using this we get

Un =

&

U0 = =

[35 & 36]

14

John Wallis (1655)

John Wallis was born on November 23rd 1616, in Ashford, England. Wallis was said to have been the greatest English mathematician of his time [37] and also said to have been the most influential mathematician prior to Sir Isaac Newton [38]. Wallis attended the famous school of Martin Holbeach at Felsted, Essex, where he learnt Latin, Greek and Hebrew [39], but not mathematics because it was not considered an important subject in the best schools of the time [40]. Wallis was first introduced to mathematics when he was fifteen years old during his Christmas holidays where he saw a book of arithmetic in his brothers hand and was curious at the odd signs and symbols, so he borrowed the book and in a fortnight, with his brothers help, had mastered the subject [41]. In 1632 Wallis went to Emmanuel College in Cambridge, where he studied ethics, metaphysics, geography, astronomy and medicine [37], but nobody in Cambridge at this time could direct his mathematical studies [40]. Wallis completed his bachelors degree in 1637 and went on to obtain his masters degree in 1640. Shortly after obtaining his masters degree, Wallis was ordained and served as a chaplain over the next few years. Wallis still exhibited great mathematical skill and his career took a turn when, during the civil war, he managed to decipher an encoded royalist message in only two hours, making him popular with the parliamentarians [37]. In 1645, Wallis began to meet regularly with a group of scientists interested in medicine, geometry, astronomy and mechanics. This group later became the Royal Society [37]. It was through these meetings that he encountered William Oughtreds Clavis Mathematicae (the Key to Mathematics), after reading it his love of mathematics, which had never found the opportunity to flourish, now came pouring out [40] and he began to start his own investigations [37]. Wallis then wrote a book titled Treatise of Angular Sections and discovered methods of solving equations of degree four [40]. Wallis mathematical talent was rewarded when he was made Savilian professor of geometry at Oxford in 1649 [39], a position he held for 50 years until his death [40]. He was also made keeper of the Oxford University archives in 1657 [37].Wallis then took up the systematic study of all the major mathematical literature available to him in the libraries at Oxford [39], allowing him to further his mathematical work. One of Wallis main works was his treatise, Tract on Conic Sections, it was here that he introduced the sign for infinity ( ) and used to represent, for example, the height of an infinitely small triangle. In 1655 Wallis published the book titled Arithmetica infinitorum (The Arithmetic of Infinitesimals), it was this book along with his work on conic sections that Wallis fame as a mathematician is based [39]. It was in this book that, by a sequence of interpolations, he produced the following infinite product for .

This was the first time that pi had appeared as the limit of a sequence of rational numbers [42] and is quite a beautiful result.

15 Let us look at a proof of Wallis formula. For n=0, 1, 2, 3. We define In as

In So I0 I1 Now suppose that n Note that: In

( )

( ) ( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

Using integration by parts u v In ( ) ( )

u v

) ( )

( )

( )

(see appendix C)

( ) ( )

( )

( )

Now we know

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

( )

Therefore So now we have In ( ( In (

( ) ) )

( ) ( )( ( ) (
( )

( ) ( )) ( )

( ( )

( )

( ))

16

Hence for any integer n

we have *

Now, let So by * we have

be even i.e. p= 1, 2, 3..

Recall So And hence

Now let So by * we have

be an odd number i.e. p=1, 2, 3..

Recall So
[43 & 44]

Using

&

we can see ( ((
( ) ( )( ) ( ) ( ) )

)( ) **

Now lets look closer at We know that

( ) for

for

( )

17 Therefore ( ) ( ), *** So In is a decreasing function of n.

Using *** we can more specifically see that Using *** we can also see Using * we can see Putting this information together we can see

By looking at the limit as

Hence

So by the squeeze rule we have got

So by **

(( ((

) ( )( ( )( )( )

) ( ) ( ( )(

) ) )( )( ) )

)
( )( ) ( )( ) ( )( ) ) ( )( ) ( )( ) ( )( )

We can write this as

[42, 43 & 44]

18

Gottfried Leibniz (1674)

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in 1646 in Germany [45]. When he was seven Leibniz entered the Nicolai school in his hometown of Leipzig. Even though he was taught Latin at school, he managed to teach himself a far more advanced Latin than the school had taught and also some Greek all by the age of 12 [46]. In 1661, at the age of fourteen, Leibniz entered the University of Leipzig, where he studied philosophy, mathematics and law [47], He graduated with a bachelors degree in 1663 [45]. The following summer Leibniz studied at the University of Jena, it was here that he met Erhard Weigel, who was professor of mathematics at the university. Through Weigel, Leibniz began to understand the importance of the method of mathematical proof. After the summer, Leibniz was went back to the University of Leipzig, where he was awarded his masters degree in philosophy for a dissertation that combined aspects of philosophy, law and mathematical ideas that he had learnt in the summer from Weigel [46]. Leibniz spent the next three years devoted to his legal studies [48] and in 1667, after failing to get his doctorate in law at Leipzig, He moved to the University at Altdorf, where this time he succeeded in getting his law doctorate [45]. Leibnizs first big steps in his law career came after he met Baron Johann Christian von Boineburg. By 1667 Leibniz had moved to Frankfurt and was employed by Boineburg and took up residence at the courts of Mainz [46]. It was here he was charged with improving the Roman civil law code, which he saw as part of his lifelong aim to collate all human knowledge [45]. In 1672 Leibniz went to Paris, on behalf of Boineburg, on political business. Whilst in Paris Leibniz made contact with mathematicians and philosophers. He ended up studying mathematics and physics under Christian Huygens and it was under Huygens that Leibniz began to get acquainted with summing series [46]. In 1673 Leibniz went on another political visit, this time to London. Here he promoted his ideas about calculus to the secretary of the Royal Society and was, shortly after, elected a member of the Royal Society [47]. In 1674 Leibniz began to study the geometry of infinitesimals [46]. But it wasnt until 1675, when Leibniz was back in Paris, that he made his most important contribution to mathematics. Leibniz managed to derive most of the calculus in the form that we still use to this day [49]. This included the first use of the ( ) notation. In 1676 Leibniz also [46] ( ) discovered the incredibly useful result that . Because of this, Leibniz is known, along with Newton, as the co-discoverer of calculus. We will be focusing on Leibnizs infinite series for infinitesimal triangles to find: , which he found using the idea of

Let us have a look at Leibnizs proof of this infinite series. Let us begin by setting up our proof -Let OAT be a quarter of a unit circle, where O is the origin, A= (1, 0) and T= (1, 1) -Join O & T by a straight line -Let P & Q be points on the arc OT -Draw straight lines OP & OQ -Let ds be the arc length PQ So, as Q tends towards P, ds becomes very small and will tend towards the straight line segment PQ. This means OPQ can be considered a triangle. It

19 also means that P can be considered a tangent to the quarter circle. -Extend the straight line PQ through the horizontal axis, meeting the y-axis at point S. -From point R on this newly made line, draw a perpendicular line to O. -Create the right angled triangle PQU, where ds is the hypotenuse of the triangle. -let dx be the horizontal distance between P & Q, i.e. PU.

We have now set up the Leibnizs proof. Let us look at triangles UPQ & OSR For this part it may help to imagine that we join points S & P, where ds remains on line RQ (see diagram right) RQ is a straight line so So ( ( ) )

So we have

&

Since two angles in each triangle are the same, the third angles must be the same. Therefore triangles UPQ & OSR are similar. Since the triangles are similar we can see that By looking at - OR - we can see that it is the height of triangle OPQ - ds - we can see it is the base of triangle OPQ (see diagram right). So the area of OPQ Or (where is the area of the small triangle OPQ)

20 So to find the area of the segment that is bounded by the straight line OT and the arc OT we will take the sum of all the small triangles, OPQ, as the horizontal value of P varies from 0 to 1.

This means Let So

Now let us use integration by parts Note: Let

So Hence

Now we want to get x in terms of y so that we can carry out this integration -let the horizontal value of P equal x -make the straight line PA -make the straight line SA -let Consider the Triangles SAO and SAP Now (Recall that P can be considered the tangent of the quarter circle as Q tends towards P) Now (because both are the radius of the quarter unit circle)

We know that both triangles share the side AS So SAO & SAP are both right angled triangles that have two sides of equal length. This means SAO and SAP are congruent to each other. This means We know Therefore Now that we know this angle we can see that

21

( ) ( ) & So we have ( ) ( ) We will now use the trigonometric identity With ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) So Now let us look at ( )
( ) ( )

, so

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( ) ( )

( )

( ) ( ) ( ( )

( ) ( )

( ) ( )) ( )

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

( ( ( )

( )

( )) ( ))

( )( Now we know that

So we have just shown that

We have now got x in terms of y, so we can finally return back to our integral ) ( ) ( ) with

Now let us rewrite this using ( So

22 * +

So we have found an expression for the area bound by the line OT and arc OT Now if we find the area of the remaining triangle and add this to C it will give us the area of a quarter of a unit circle. Find area of triangle OAT AOAT ( )

Area of a quarter of a unit circle ( )

So putting this information together we get

[50, 51, 52 & 53]

It is worth noting that this result can also be obtained by using the series for arctan that was discovered by Gregory in 1671. ( ) For | |

By using this with x=1 we obtain the series for .

[54]

23 Leonhard Euler (1736) Leonhard Euler was born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1707. Eulers father educated him in mathematics when he was young; having himself being interested in the subject and even attended lectures given by Jacob Bernoulli [55]. At age 7 Euler began school [56], but this school was a rather poor one and Euler was taught no mathematics from the school. However Eulers interest in mathematics had already been sparked by his fathers early tutelage, so he read mathematics books on his own and took private lessons [57]. In 1720, at the young age of 14, Euler entered the University of Basel in order to obtain a general education before attempting more advanced studies [57]. It was at the university that he came under the guidance of Johann Bernoulli [55], who seeing Eulers potential, gave Euler private tuition [57] . In 1722, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree. A year later he completed his masters degree in philosophy. Euler then began to study to become a minister, as this was his fathers wish, but this was short lived as Eulers strength clearly lied in mathematics [55], so Euler with support from his tutor, Johann Bernoulli, who was his fathers friend, persuaded his father to allow Euler to pursue mathematics instead [58]. In 1726 Euler completed his mathematics studies at the University of Basel [57]. After his studies, because of a lack of opportunities available in Switzerland, Euler accepted an offer to work at the St Petersburg Academy of Science, in Russia [55]. Here he was appointed to the mathematical-physical division of the Academy [57]. Then In 1731, he managed to advance and became professor of physics and in 1733 became professor of mathematics. In 1740 Euler accepted an offer to work in Berlin at the Society of the Sciences [55]. Whilst here he undertook duties such as: supervising the observatory, publishing various calendars and geographical maps [57] and also undertook practical problems such as correcting the level of the Finow Canal. Euler stayed a total of 25 years in Berlin, during which time he produced more than 380 works in areas such as calculus of variations, ballistics analysis, calculation of planetary orbits, motion of the moon and differential calculus [55]. In 1766 Euler returned to St Petersburg. Soon after his return to Russia he was left completely blind after an illness. But, incredibly, even after his blindness, at the age of 59, Euler with the help of his assistants was still able to produce roughly half of his total works [57]. In 1783 Euler died of a brain haemorrhage [55]. But even after his death, so vast were Eulers works that the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences continued to publish Eulers unpublished work for 50 more years [57]. As previously mentioned, the mathematical works of Euler were vast, publishing over 800 papers in his life, making him the one of the most prolific mathematical writers of all time. Throughout these works Euler made many important mathematical contributions. He introduced the use of many mathematical symbols including f(x) for a function f of x, i for the square root of -1 [59], for summations and the modern notation for the trigonometric functions [60]. Euler also introduced the symbol for the base of natural logarithms (e); he then showed that e is irrational [59], discovered a power series expansion for e and defined the exponential function for complex numbers [60] as: ( ) When ( )

we get a special case that is known as Eulers identity

Which, to many, is considered the most beautiful equation in all mathematics because it features the five most important numbers: e, i, , 1 & 0 [60].

24

Euler also showed that there are an infinite number of primes, proved the binomial theorem is valid for any rational exponent [59] and also stated the theorem that an algebraic polynomial of degree n has n roots, known as the fundamental theorem of algebra [55]. Euler also popularised the use of the standard notation for pi ( ) [61]. As well as popularising the symbol for pi, Euler also gave an infinite series involving pi, this was:

Let us now look at how Euler derived this series for

Look at the Taylor series expansion for ( ) Dividing each side by x we get
( )

( )

For

So This means the roots of Now we know the roots of

( ) ( )

( )

when

( )

and ( ), i.e.

are the non-zero roots of

( )

we may now factorise it ( )( )( )( )( )( )

By expanding each group of two brackets we get

( )

)(

)(

Then by multiplying out the brackets we get

( )

Note: the one comes from multiplying all the ones in each bracket. The terms come from multiplying the coefficient in each bracket by all the ones in the remaining brackets. So we know
( )

25 Equating the coefficients we get

( ) ( )

[62, 63 & 64]

This is how Euler initially derived the series for . But this is not a proof because Euler has used the property of a polynomial; that if you know the roots of a polynomial you can factorise it. He has then assumed that this property holds true for infinite series. Even without full justification, Euler was able to verify it numerically and was confident to announce it to the mathematical community [65]. So we have looked at Eulers original derivation of the proof of it. Full proof of the series for Let where and let be an odd integer series, now let us have a look at a full

By De Moivres Theorem
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ( ) ( ) ( ))

( (

( ) ( )

( )

( ) ( )

( )

( )

By the Binomial Theorem ( ( ( ) ) ( ) ) ( ) (( ) (( ) So we now know ( ( ) )

( ) ( ) ( )

( )

( )( ( )

( )) ( ) ( ) ( )

where ( ) ( ( ) ( ) )

( ) ( ) ( ) ) )

( )

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

(( ) (( )

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

) )

26 Equate the imaginary parts

( ) ( )

( ) )

( ) ( ) (( )

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

( ) ( ) ( ) )*

Now let n = 2m+1, where m is a positive integer Let This means So ( ( ) Hence ( ) ) ( ( where r = 1, 2m (note
( )

(n is still a positive odd integer) )

) ) (because )

So by using * with ( )

we get ( ) (( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ( ) ) ( ) ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ) )

( ) (( ) Since ( ) (( ) Subbing in n = 2m+1 (( Let ( ) (( ) ( ) ( )

( )

we can divide both sides by ( ) ( ) ( )

( )

( )

)(

) )

( ) is one-one for Now because we can see that th are the distinct roots of the m degree polynomial equation: ( ) ( ) ( ) (

(where r=1, 2, 3, , m)

)(

27 Looking at Vites Formula For any polynomial of degree n For Where the polynomial has n roots the polynomial are . Then the sums of the roots of

[66]

Applying Vites formula to our mth degree polynomial we get ( ) ( i.e. ) ( ) ( )( )

We know has m distinct roots So by Vites formula

( ( ( ( ) ) ( ( ) ) ( ( ) )

) ) (

( ( )(

) ) )

Now looking at We can see that

( )
( ) ( )

( )
( )

( )

( )

Using this equality we can see that ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ( ) ) ( ) ( ) ( )

)(

)(

By looking at the inequalities ( ) ( )

( ) ( ) ( )

&

( ) ( ) ( )
( )

(for
( )

28 Now by using this inequality for each value of together we get: ( ) ( ) ( ) r = 1, 2m then adding them

( ) (

( ) )

( ( )

( ( )

Multiplying through by
( ( ) ) ( )

( (

) ) ( ) ( ( ) ) ( ) ( ( ) ) ( ( ) )

( Now as m tends to infinity ( )( ) ( )( )

)(

)(

( ( )( )

)(

So by the squeeze rule

[65 & 67]

29

Appendix A
A1:
Proposition 3 of Book VI of Euclid's Elements
(Euclid VI. 3)

If an angle of a triangle be bisected and the straight line cutting the angle cut the base also, the segments of the base will have the same ratio as the remaining sides of the triangle; and, if the segments of the base have the same ratio as the remaining sides of the triangle, the straight line joined from the vertex to the point of section will bisect the angle of the triangle I.e. If AD bisects BAC, then BD : CD = BA : AC
[24]

A2:

30-60-90 triangle proof

Consider the Equilateral triangle of side length 2X, and let AD bisect the angle at A. Therefore DAC = DAB = 30 BD = CD because the triangles ACD & ABD share the side AD and the sides AB and AC are of equal length (because they are the sides of an equilateral triangle). We also know that DAC = DAB = 30, all this information tells us that the triangles are congruent, hence BD = CD = X

2X

2X

So we have BA = 2X & BD = X, then by Pythagoras theorem: ( Therefore )

BD : AD : AB = 1 : : 2

X A3:

D
2X

Thales Theorem

Thales' theorem states that if A, B and C are points on a circle where the [28] line AB is a diameter of the circle, then the angle ACB is a right angle Proof Let M be the centre of the circle, where A , B and C are points on the circle. Then AM = BM = CM, therefore the triangles AMC and BMC are isosceles. If BMC = then MCB = 90 and CMA=180 . Therefore ACM= and ACB = MCB + ACM = 90
[68 & 69]

A4:

Inscribed Angles Conjecture I

An inscribed angle is an angle formed by two chords in a circle which have a common endpoint. The other two endpoints define what we call an intercepted arc on the circle. A central angle is any angle whose vertex is located at the centre of a circle. In a circle, the measure of an inscribed angle is half the measure of the central angle with the same intercepted arc I.e.
[70]

30

Appendix B
cos

12 = AC2 + BC2 12 = 2AC2 (AC = BC because it is an isosceles triangle) 1 = AC = AC =BC

So

cos

31

Appendix C
Differentiation of Let So ( ) ( ) and ( )by the chain rule ( ) ( )

( (

) )

( ) ( ) ( )

32

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