Why some mathematicians think we should abandon pi?

Pi is like the number we use to measure circles, but some mathematicians think there's a better number hiding behind it.

Imagine you're eating a pizza. Most people cut it into 8 slices, right? But what if you could cut it in a way that makes math easier? That’s kind of what’s happening with tau (τ), which is just 2 times pi (π). So instead of saying the full circle is 2π, we can say it's just τ.

• When you learn about angles, a full turn around a circle is 360 degrees. But in math, that’s also 2π radians. With tau, that becomes τ radians, one whole circle! It feels more natural.
• Pi shows up in lots of formulas, but sometimes it makes them look messy. Tau can simplify things, like when you're finding the circumference of a circle: C = τr, instead of C = 2πr.

So some mathematicians think tau is easier to understand, and they want us to use it more often, just like we might switch from 8 slices to 6 or 10, depending on what works best. Pi is like the number we use to measure circles, but some mathematicians think there's a better number hiding behind it.

Imagine you're eating a pizza. Most people cut it into 8 slices, right? But what if you could cut it in a way that makes math easier? That’s kind of what’s happening with tau (τ), which is just 2 times pi (π). So instead of saying the full circle is 2π, we can say it's just τ.