On March 14, mathematicians celebrate Pi Day with pie and pizza. But June 28, is the day of pi’s competitor: tau. The number tau is a mathematical constant and exactly twice the size of pi and has a value of about 6.28. Therefore, his feast day is on the 28th of the 6th month.
What means Tau?
You probably did not heard of tau (mathematical) before, but you have probably heard of pi. The number pi (3.14…) is the constant that indicates the ratio of the circumference and diameter of a circle. Pi is used in many different formulas and applications. More and more people are calling to use tau from now on to calculate the circumference of a circle instead of using pi. Tau would make calculations easier and also more logical.
Ratio
These two mathematical constants, pi and tau, are closely related. Pi is the ratio between the circumference and diameter of a circle. Tau indicates the ratio of the circumference and radius of a circle and is therefore two times pi. In other words: tau = 2 x 3.14 = 6.28.
Paper
The idea of replacing pi for another constant came from Professor Rob Palais. In 2001 he wrote a paper with the title ‘pi is wrong’ about it. Palais finds that pi is clumsily defined. So it is not so much about pi being wrong: but about making tau more logical.
Tau and audio
You will also encounter Tau (2x pi) with loudspeakers. A (theoretically) omnidirectional speaker will have a beam angle of Tau when placed against the wall. In the example below the application of pi in the radiation space of a loudspeaker.
(source: blogs.qsc.com)
Read more about radiation space
Greek alphabet
In addition, tau can also refer to: Tau (letter), the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet. Our company name, Tau Audio Solutions, is inspired by this letter τ of the Greek alphabet.
Read more: Tau Audio Solutions BV for 25 years