Some random facts are so fascinating, funny, or unexpected that they can stick with us. Whether it’s an obscure piece of history, a weird scientific discovery, or an odd cultural tidbit, there are many not well known facts stored away for the right moment. What’s your favorite random fact that most people don’t know, and where did you learn it?

  • over_clox@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    π ≈ 355/113

    3.1415929204

    Accurate to 6 decimal places, close enough for government work right?

    • rockSlayer@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      I always learned 22/7 = 3.142

      Also close enough for most situations that don’t need extreme accuracy

      • over_clox@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        2 months ago

        True that, and 22/7 is the first approximation I learned around 8th grade. But I had already learned π to 50 decimal places in 4th grade…

        3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751

        So by 10th grade I was studying computer programming, on my own, not a school class. Anyways, I found myself fascinated by mathematical algorithms, and ended up (amongst other things) writing a decimal to fraction converter.

        When I chucked π through it, it gave me 355/113

  • ma1w4re@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    -40C == -40F

    Some Android phones strip location data from images before giving apps access to them

    Clang compiles to intermediary clang language, before compiling that to assembly