The Great Pyramid and Tau

 

Okay, I read about this a month or so ago and wanted to post something but haven’t had the time, energy or inclination. Now, lucky reader, I do.

Did you know that there is a relationship between our favorite mathematical concept, π, the irrational and transcendental constant, and the Great Pyramid of Giza, seen here:

 

 Yep. There is.

But first, let’s review a simple formula. The circumference of a circle:

 

C =2πr

 

C stands for the circle’s circumference, r for the radius. This 2π thing is also known, to those in the know, as “tau.” It has been trendy in recent years, from what (little) I understand, to push tau over π, arguing that it makes mathematical formulae easier. I don’t know if that’s worth all the effort to overthrow centuries of mathematical foundation, but let’s consider tau for this discussion.

 

Tau = 2π

 

Now, π = 3.14159…, so 2π, or tau, = 6.28318…

 

Roughly 6.283.

 

All well and good – but where does the Great Pyramid come in?

[This is really cool!]

The height of the Great Pyramid is 481.4 feet. Its base length, the length of one of the four bases along the ground, where the pyramid meets the desert sand, is 756.4 feet.

Got that?

Since there are four base lines at the, er, base of the pyramid, the total base length is 3,025.6 feet. 4 x 756.4 = 3,024.6.

So let’s take this total base length and divide it by the pyramid’s height:

 

3,024.6 / 481.4 = …

 

Ready?

 

3,024.6 / 481.4 = 6.28292548

 

Or rounded to the thousandths decimal place:

 

6.283

 

And tau, from above, equals, roughly, 6.283.

Tau = the base length of the Great Pyramid divided by its height!

 

Wow! Are you honestly not blown away by that? More than a coincidence, no? Has to be, right?

 

Indeed …