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Re: Gravity and pi



Regarding Vans' comment:
Is it just a coincidence that the acceleration due to the
gravitational force on the surface of the earth is approximately pi
squared?

No more than the coincidence that pi^20 is approximately equal to the
Coulomb Constant!

This latter coincidence is probably less significant than the former one.
The latter one is comparable to the fact that c ~= 1 foot/nanosec. OTOH,
the former coincidence may, in fact, be at least as significant as the fact
that: c*h-bar = [pi] nanoerg*Angstrom. But if the previously mentioned
speculations about the history of the meter and the 'seconds' pendulum
holds up, then the original coincidence may be no more remarkable than that
the specific heat of liquid water happens to be 1 cal/(g*deg) or that
c = 1 light-year/yr.

David Bowman
dbowman@georgetowncollege.edu