Mathematical Constants, e, pi, Euler's constant and the golden ratio

- basic mathematical, maths, or math constants including Pi, e also known as Euler's number, Euler's constant or Euler-Mascheroni constant and the golden ratio.

Mathematical formulae and constants Include:

Within mathematics, math, or maths there are four major constants that appear in a number of situations: Pi (π), the natural log base or Euler's number (e), Euler's constant often called the Euler Mascheroni constant (g) and finally the Golden ratio (f).

These four mathematical constants appear in a number of maths formulae, and can be seen as forming some very basic cornerstones in mathematical calculations.

In view of this, these constants are widely seen within the mathematical arena.

Table of the mathematical constants

Pi, π

Pi represented by the Greek letter p is a mathematical constant. It is the ratio between the circumference of a circle to its diameter as well as being the ratio between the area of a circle to the square of its radius.

Pi is an irrational number, i.e. it cannot be expressed as a fraction of two integers. The commonly used fraction 22/7 which is often used is only a rough approximation, although sufficient for many basic calculations where only accuracy is not required. In addition to this the decimal representation of Pi never ends or repeats. Beyond being irrational, Pi is a transcendental number, which means that no finite sequence of algebraic operations on integers (powers, roots, sums, etc.) can ever produce it exactly.

Pi can be given in several representations:

Natural log base

The mathematical number e, also known as Euler's number (not to be confused with the Euler-Mascheroni constant, sometimes called simply Euler's constant) is the unique real number that has the mathematical property that the function e^x has the same value as the slope of the tangent line, for all values of x.

Euler's number, e, is transcendental, i.e. it is a number that does not arise from an ordinary algebraic expression. As a result, Euler's number, e is also irrational; its value cannot be given exactly as a finite or eventually repeating decimal.

Euler's constant

Euler's constant is defined as the limit, as n tends to infinity, of the sum of 1 + 1/2 + 1/3 + ... up to 1/n, minus the natural logarithm of n

Golden ratio

The golden ratio is an unusual number which exists in mathematics. It is a ratio that is said to have perfect dimensions and as a result it has also been used in artistic endeavour as well as mathematical calculations. Also, mathematicians down the years have studied the golden ratio because of its unique and interesting properties.

Two quantities are said to have the golden ratio if the ratio between the sum of the two quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller.

The golden ratio can be expressed as a mathematical constant, usually denoted by the Greek letter (phi). The figure of a golden section illustrates the geometric relationship that defines this constant.

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