How to Calculate Pi by Throwing Frozen Hot Dogs

Learn how to calculate pi by throwing frozen hot dogs with this guide from wikiHow: www.wikihow.co...
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[@EnderGrad]

I forgot the value of pi during my math exam. So, I snuck out of the exam hall, went to closest grocery store, stole some frozen hotdogs and determined the value of pi using this video. I still failed the exam but thanks for the video

[@shadowflame8675]

That's crazy.

[@mrowlsss]

The reason you failed is because you forgot to steal the masking tape 🤦

[@duckgaming5]

Yeah and you threw the frozen hot dogs 300 times

[@mikolamy2677]

I hope this comments will become the top comments

[@ryanjohnson4565]

I was in the exact same situation myself just the other day.

[@limaogameplays8715]

Finally an easy and fast way to calculate Pi, thank you.

[@levels23]

not so fast

[@HFIAPY]

Yes, and I will make sure to use pi in my daily life! 😜👍

[@HelperBot]

It’s literally just 3

[@lacrimis_solis]

Very effective

[@Kuhanapomaranca]

200 to 300 throws

[@aywy8]

we don't need to know wikihow we need to know wikiwhy 💀

[@HayItsRhy]

how is this not a top comment 😭😭😭

[@kairu_b]

😭

[@noodlepigeon]

😭😭😭😂😂😂

[@yeetdragon2413]

and also wikiwho found out you could do this

[@DoorMSM]

And wikiwhere can i found this

[@BubbleBFDI]

this is the type of video to appear in everyones reccomendations like 7 years later

[@raysye4775]

true (waiting for 2031 people)

[@Jack6J57]

I thought this was from 7 years ago 💀

[@mgames3209]

@@Jack6J57 same

[@proton..]

hi bubble

[@aristaous]

Returning 2031

[@Bloidz7]

Google: Memorise the digits of pi Bing:

[@Fork228Leer]

I think you will fail to memorize all digits of an *irrational* number.

[@swiderek1]

​@@Fork228Leer🤓☝️

[@SlashyJ]

@@Fork228Leer it'll take a while but you'll eventually be able to do it. Oh wait...

[@hgrm2electricboogaloo242]

You can’t memorize all the digits because it has an infinite amount of digits. That’s what an irrational number is.

[@ProfessionalBugLover]

ok 2 things here, first off i didn't even know wikihow had a youtube channel, and second of alll, what the hell

[@Monkeymario.]

yeah idk wikihow had a ytc

[@TealComet]

Yeah, what the hell Wikihow?

[@crediblehulk420]

It's life hacks like these that might actually get people interested in mathematics.

[@JatPhenshllem]

Exactly, so much "huh?"

[@TheBigGuyBillyBob]

fr

[@rexygama7697]

*The mathematical explanation on how it works* (It's pretty long in text, but actually pretty neat when visualized) *_BEFORE WE START_* We're introducing some term and variables to make the explanation more concise. *_theta_* : the counter-clockwise angle between the sausage and the horizontal line to the right. Its value ranges from 0° to 180°. To visualize, imagine the sausage as the hour hand of a clock that can be rotated between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. At 3 p.m. *_theta_* is 0°, at 2 p.m. *_theta_* is 30°, at 12 p.m. *_theta_* is 90°, at 11 a.m. *_theta_* is 120°, and so on. *_d_* : the length of sausage and distance between horizontal lines. Its value is fixed/constant. *_y_* : the distance between the center of the sausage and the closest horizontal line below it. Its value ranges between 0 to *_d_* *cross* : the event of the sausage crossing a horizontal line We're looking at the scene from top view. There are some assumptions: - we are simplifying the sausage and the horizontal strips as one-dimensional lines with no width - *_theta_* and *_y_* are random and its values are equally likely to occur *_INTRODUCTION_* When the sausage lands and stops moving on the floor, we measure the distance *_y_*. The sausage is oriented at an angle *_theta_*. When *_theta_* is 0° (parallel to the horizontal lines), *cross* happens when the sausage perfectly landed on top of a horizontal strip. When *_theta_* is 90° (perpendicular to the horizontal lines), *cross* always happens because the length of the sausage is equal to the distance between horizontal lines. In other words, the _probability_ of *cross* when *_theta_* = 0° is 0 (or theoretically infinitely small because we are simplifying the sausage and horizontal strips as 1-dimensional lines with no width). Meanwhile, the _probability_ of *cross* when *_theta_* = 90° is 1 (because it always happens). *_FINDING THE PROBABILITY FOR A GIVEN ANGLE THETA_* What about other values of *_theta_* ? Let's say *_theta_* is 30°. Now imagine a rectangular box with no base or lid, it has only 4 sides whose length you can adjust. The horizontal sides of the box are parallel to the horizontal strips on the floor while the vertical sides are perpendicular. Lastly, we adjust the box size so that it perfectly fits the sausage. Using trigonometry, we can calculate the length of the box's sides that meets these criteria. The vertical sides have a length of *_d_* * sin( *_theta_* ). Let's give it a name: *_x_* . In this case when *_theta_* is 30°, *_x_* is *_d_* * sin(30°) = 1/2 *_d_* Now that we have this setup, you can imagine moving around the sausage and the box (while maintaining its orientation). You soon find that *cross* happens when *_y_* is between 0 and 1/2 *_x_* or when *_y_* is between *_d_* - 1/2 *_x_* and *_d_* . In our case, using the *_x_* value before ( *_theta_* = 30° ), *cross* happens when *_y_* is between 0 and 1/4 *_d_* or between 3/4 *_d_* and *_d_* . Because we assume *y* is random and its values are equally likely to occur between 0 and *_d_* , the probability of *cross* is [ ( 1/4 *_d_* - 0 ) + ( *_d_* - 3/4 *_d_* ) ] / *_d_* = [ 1/4 *_d_* + 1/4 *_d_* ] / *_d_* = 1/2 To generalize, the probability of *cross* happening for some value *_theta_* is [ ( 1/2 *_x_* - 0 ) + ( *_d_* - ( *_d_* - 1/2 *_x_* ) ) ] / *_d_* = [ 1/2 *_x_* + 1/2 *_x_* ] / *_d_* = *_x_* / *_d_* = *_d_* * sin( *_theta_* ) / *_d_* = sin( *_theta_* ) *_PUTTING IT TOGETHER_* Now, to find the probability of *cross* happening for all possible values of *_theta_* , we use calculus to integrate all the probabilities of *cross* for all values of *_theta_* from 0° to 180° and *then* divide the result by the probabilities of all possible values of *_theta_* . The integral of sin( *_theta_* ), with *_theta_* from 0° to 180° is -cos( *_theta_* ); *_theta_* from 0° to 180° = -cos(180°) - (-cos(0°)) = -(-1) - (-1) = 1 + 1 = 2 So the overall probability of *cross* is 2 / (180° - 0°) we now convert the angles to radiant so we get 2 / (π - 0) = 2 / π *_BACK TO THE VIDEO_* This overall probability corresponds to the ratio between the number of crosses and the number of tosses in the experiment. In other words, the probability of *cross* is (# of crosses)/(# of tosses) We now get the equation (# of crosses)/(# of tosses) = 2 / π Rearranging the equation a bit, we get π = 2 * (# of tosses) / (# of crosses) π = (# of tosses) / [(# of crosses) / 2] *_CAVEAT_* To get a better result, you should make sure the experiment condition is as close to the assumptions as possible. The freezing sausage condition helps reduce friction so it can slide and rotate freely. You should also give it a little spin when throwing to give it more randomness. Also, the thinner the sausage and the horizontal strips are, the better. Edit: *TLDR* Combine trigonometry + calculus + probability + some imagination and **poof** you get the probability of the sausage crossing a line is 2/π. Work it out a little and you get π equals the formula on the video. It works best if the sausage/floor is slippery and you throw it many many times as randomly as possible

[@gonzaloegoavil9239]

Did you just take the time to write all of that into a random KZbin video about hot dogs?

[@Bombasticpik]

I didn't catch that. Can you say it again?

[@Purpleblackviolet]

You a math major?

[@rexygama7697]

​@@gonzaloegoavil9239 Guess I did. I should walk outside for a bit, probably will buy some hot dogs on the way

[@JoEbY-X]

@@gonzaloegoavil9239 Woe to thee who doth not understand the joy of recreational math and writing out intricate academic proofs of interesting but useless things!

[@imacoustict]

If you didn’t know, this is called Buffon’s needle, a fascinating probability experiment devised by the 18th-century French mathematician Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. In this classic problem, a needle of a certain length is dropped onto a floor marked with equally spaced parallel lines, and the probability of the needle crossing one of the lines is determined. This seemingly simple setup elegantly connects geometry, calculus, and probability theory, and it provides a method for approximating the value of π. By repeating the experiment many times and observing the proportion of times the needle crosses a line, one can gain insights into the nature of random events and the inherent patterns that arise from them

[@alexfekken7599]

Good to see someone giving credit where it is actually due.

[@samhodge7460]

Neat

[@kingcrimson4133]

shoutout to chatgpt for writing this comment

[@existentialchaos8]

Once I heard of this article from a video talking about the strangest wikihow pages, and when I looked on the site, I couldn't find it. Now I finally get a chance to learn how to calculate pi by throwing frozen hot dogs.

[@Monkeymario.]

e

[@corndogznketup]

Ah, a fellow Jameskii viewer.

[@raysye4775]

When I saw the title I was just... dead.

[@Monkeymario.]

*laughing

[@Playing096]

:3

[@HFIAPY]

Wow so you commented from the underground aye? Tell me what's down there

[@PraviLukijanJC]

how are you dead.

[@SomeRandomGerman]

rip

[@SakretteAmamiya]

Basically it's considered that each hot dog lies with a random angle from 0 to 360 degrees, then calculate the theoretical probability of hot dogs crossing the lines, and there's a pi in the theoretical probability

[@Monkeymario.]

someone else calculated the probability

[@ThisCanBePronounced]

This GETS me. Everyone yelled at me as a toddler when I threw my toys around. Finally people can believe I was just calculating pi - discovering *math.*

[@SlashyJ]

Underappreciated genius. What have you done since then? I went from child prodigy at 3 to disappointing my family when I was 5.

[@notdaycrucial5179]

0:16 can a good personality also work? mine isn't that long

[@Dann.y]

😅

[@futurehofer1564]

Boooo tomato tomato tomato

[@zazaway]

@@futurehofer1564who r u

[@jstraight1667]

Try filling it with water and freezing it to make it expand

[@Dann.y]

@@jstraight1667 Nah bro rubbing mine makes it expand

[@Salmanul_]

This is buffon's needle problem. The proof involves probability and a little bit of calculus. The hidden circle in this procedure is the path traced by the ends of the hotdog when you rotate it.

[@elSplunky]

I love how this just randomly got recommended to me.

[@jc008titan]

didn't you get an exam off of this? it's CS college subject for exam

[@abdullahshah4510]

Thank you! I was stuck with only a hot dog and needed to calculate pi, and this saved me!

[@brickie9816]

Thank goodness for this tutorial 🙏i can finally calculate Pi by throwing frozen hot dogs

[@nanachichi1044]

Who has 300 hotdogs just laying around?

[@BubbleBFDI]

your mother's contact list

[@existentialchaos8]

Just reuse them.

[@mynameiskabo]

@@BubbleBFDI daaamn you smashed him hard on the ass 😂😂😂

[@ivander1511]

The maths test guy

[@wowutisnolonger]

Real

[@dreadskulk]

KZbin knows that this fella is gonna watch ANYTHING at this point. Why in the world was this recommended to me? 😭

[@littlekirby6]

thank you wikihow, this was exactly the video I needed just before the 4th of July. You're one of the last remaining good websites on the internet

[@justsomerandomgamer]

I can't tell if that's sarcasm or not, lol

[@spherius2account]

Instructions unclear: I was expelled for doing that on a math exam

[@eraser__]

i've always wondered how to calculate pi by throwing frozen hot dogs, and finally found the way today! thank you!!!

[@Yodelling_Bibble]

This is what the internet was made for.

[@Pentagon005875]

Next video: calculate pi by throwing pie

[@midnight17gdps]

"we will have flying cars in 2024" 2024:

[@cantrusthestory]

relatable

[@liam.28]

to be fair though i'd rather have this

[@Sparsh011]

we have this and also flying cars

[@cantrusthestory]

@@Sparsh011 But are they available to the public? Can you easily buy one of them?

[@-CA-Games-]

any car can fly, it’s just that most don’t stay in the air for very long

[@isavenewspapers8890]

Since this video was posted just a few days after Tau Day, I think it's fitting to also provide a method for approximating the number τ (tau), which is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its radius, or around 6.28. Steps: Same process, except instead of tosses / (crosses / 2), use tosses / (crosses / 4). And there you have it.

[@justsomerandomgamer]

Saved me from using Google, thanks!

[@booleancoercion785]

​@@justsomerandomgamer You need Google to tell you that Tau is the same as Pi times 2?

[@isavenewspapers8890]

@@booleancoercion785I think it was a joke.

[@RedKincaid]

When I first discovered youtube years and years ago I used to be obsessed with watching how to videos on every subject, the more obscure the better. It feels like this video was made specifically to make me feel nostalgic

[@ChrisMMaster0]

Cant belive I got this recommended at 6:00am, and I watched it...

[@neon5729]

0:14 dirty mind starting up

[@unholycrusader69]

15-20 cm? Best I can do is 2...

[@Global-yt]

@@unholycrusader69 My brother you can pray

[@itromacoder3088]

if you work at eros lmao

[@YorktownClass]

​@@Global-ytor I can suck it to make it bigger

[@fasa_real]

​@@unholycrusader69 i mean it's still average

[@MelonSeedOfficial]

And then comes john dawgthrower nailing 200 hotdogs on every single line

[@nirn_]

I really like the part there he explains how it calculates a pi

[@isabellaaverion]

i was searching for a tutorial on how to calculate pi by throwing frozen hot dogs, now i'm finally at peace

[@starekmichal1394]

Probability, I guess. I think the probability of someone taking the time to do this is also probably much lower. Edit: Math is cool. If your favorite way to calculate π is by chucking sausages, fair play, but I'd recommend ones with the plastic casing. Or just wash them after.

[@kavinbala8885]

I guess ye probability but more so on the fact that if the object you throw is straight. regardless of where it lands it's rotation on the ground is what matters and if you spin a stick you get a circle kinda thing

[@tarnsanders259]

I know a group of people who did it in a math club, their sponsor wasn't very happy with them afterwards, but they did get a shockingly accurate result.

[@totally_not_a_bot]

You can use toothpicks on a table. That has been done a few times.

[@draido-dev]

more like monto-carlo, this is a randomized algorithm yes, but it's deterministic and converging in it's core, suprisingly

[@ivanlai5467]

Actually, I did this whole thing for my IB Maths IA, and instead I did tennis shots. It turned out pretty accurate actually.

[@SuperflyMN]

This would be a useful video to have when I don't have a calculator with me but need to estimate π

[@vshah1010]

You still need a calculator. The bouncing ball method is better, you get the individual digits of PI.

[@scoapproductions]

Thanks, now I know what to do with my 300 frozen hot dogs

[@titan2189]

The shop owner: sir good luck for your party Me : what party ?

[@37_tranhoangtuan73]

what the heck is this, is this a joke. This channle is gold

[@ArcanaChandra]

after that, my mom will calculate the power of her fist, and i will flying approximately 30km²

[@brotundwasser]

How much do you weigh? I need to calculate the joules of energy that your mom's fist has.

[@tanmayakumarrout8767]

Thanks! If I ever forget the value of pi during the exam, I can simply toss my hot dogs

[@TommyGee.]

"Son why are you throwing hotdogs all over the kitchen floor?" "Well you see - the internet told me to..."

[@turoandersson1901]

Didn't get the recommended video I wanted but the one that I needed

[@jalapenoandbanana]

You're a life saver I needed this 🙏

[@ropemox5550]

I'll keep that in mind incase i forgot pi in a math test and i need to calculate it quickly

[@JamOnJam]

My parents turning something as simple as hot dogs into a lecture:

[@PilgorGoat]

mathematicians should this method to calculate pi ngl...

[@kakyoindonut3213]

why didn't they just do this? are they stupid? /s

[@Monkeymario.]

well not really i dont think we should calculate pi using a physical object

[@kakyoindonut3213]

@@Monkeymario. -🤓

[@thevalarauka101]

technically it's not calculating but rather approximating it with a Monte-Carlo-like method which won't necessarily give the right answer since it's based on probability

[@Ominous_b]

@@kakyoindonut3213how is using common sence making you a nerd

[@sphengosine]

wikihow brings me back

[@ed_cmntonly]

Only WikiHow would have this video out of anyone on this platform

[@Bloidz7]

Now during any exam I have about pi, this is my go-to method

[@dark6.63E-34]

They are basically banking on the fact that 63% of the tosses are crosses. It is basically just an arbitrarily chosen function that equals π, when for it's two inputs one of them is 63% of the other. Any experiment that yields 63 consistently can be used.

[@mizuki4002]

you might want to search "Buffon's needle"

[@AlconaSD]

this is absolutely unhinged and i love it.

[@DaSquyd]

I remember when I first found this WikiHow article in high school a decade ago... good memories

[@kilroy987]

You will also get in trouble with your parents for throwing frozen food at the kitchen floor covered in duct tape.

[@justsomerandomgamer]

The next step is to avoid getting whooped with belt

[@modahabbab]

its here its finally here

[@lauriparkkamaki4854]

Don't play with your food, ok

[@Noughtsgnik]

No throwing food items in my Christian Minecraft server

[@TylerTheDevourer]

the fact that this video is serious makes it even funnier

[@DDAS_INSANE]

i feel like this is randomly gonna get recomended to everyone in like 5 years

[@Dm145_F36]

0:35 what if my item is shorter than 6in? 😔

[@Isaac_Robotics]

Dw as long as it has a good personality its alr

[@Dm145_F36]

@@Isaac_Robotics thank you, you’ve helped me feel more confident about my item

[@punkz_69]

Thanks helped me allot

[@goldenscout7484]

this is definitely one of the titles and thumbnails of all time

[@tiagocabrita5919]

where tf will I manage to get 300 sausages to throw around in my tiny ass kitchen?

[@jacksonberry6492]

50 views in 12 hours? Wiki how fell off

[@null6200]

You fell off

[@ARandomGamer-nx1kv]

the best “no u” ever

[@yeetdragon2413]

real

[@alek002]

Who tf discovered this

[@oneonlykiha]

This is exactly how pi was calculated for the first time

[@doveShampoo1111]

So this is how quantum physics was used to calculate pi..

[@elliotmarks06]

Wikihow has answered every reasonable question in existence and now needs to make up more

[@JeansJones]

i love how all the examples for projectiles are food

[@SuLokify]

It works because of the probability of a cross when the hotdog lands horizontal approaches zero, when vertical approaches one. You can get all the components of Euler's identity from this setup

[@NoName-oz3gj]

That one unemployed friend in his free time:

[@fishrocker95]

im glad i stumbled upon this video. i just accidentally bought 300 hot dogs and some masking tape. now i know what to do with all of the hot dogs. thanks!!

[@Directed2212]

This is stuff that should be 10 years old already

[@RJCMaxification]

THANK YOU WIKIHOW this solves my problem perfectly

[@sheepcommander_]

thanks! I've been waiting for a method like this!

[@Peeps40836]

This. This is the exact type of content KZbin was made for.

[@tgc7987]

for some reason this finally went in my recommended relatively early, while other videos like this come up after several years

[@arandom_bwplayeralt]

*throws hot dog* "the value of pi is 3.14159"

[@jesserianbayani]

Based on my observation, I believe this might be an explanation as to why this works: When you randomly throw the hotdog, it lands in different positions and angles. The probability of the hotdog crossing a line is connected to the length of the hotdog and the distance between the lines. This probability is tied to pi because pi appears naturally in calculations involving circles, angles, and distances. Over many throws, the randomness averages out, revealing this underlying probability. By counting the crosses and using the formula, you tap into this geometric relationship to estimate pi. In essence, the experiment works because the geometry of the situation (lines, angles, lengths) inherently involves, and the random throws allow you to statistically uncover it. I'm hope this helped! If you have any more questions or need further explanations on other topics, feel free to ask. My job as a language model is to assist you.

[@RandomnesssE]

thank you wikihow this was very useful. I dont own a calculator, but i do own 300 frozen hot dogs.

[@morbidsearch]

"Choose a long, straight, stiff item" Y'all knew what you were doing there.

[@articasterisk]

very useful information i will remember to use this in my daily life

[@Tactix_se]

This is the content I use KZbin for

[@AlstenE18]

finally i've been looking for this kind of tutorial for years thank you so much 🙏

[@agmaiocplayer5]

The most life changing video to ever exist

[@olliebobswastaken]

this is the most wikihow thing ever

[@kato_dsrdr]

This the most wtf video in my feed today. May the algorthm bless this and reccomend it to everyone after 10 years.

[@HelperBot]

I didn’t know I needed this. Thank you.

[@noahlee0]

Possibly my favourite KZbin title ever

[@bryede]

I remember the story of the day two mathematicians got locked in a room and discovered that in a pinch you could survive by eating your pi calculator.

[@_rat_5758]

Just what I needed! Thank you wikihow

[@user-lw2xc6sb5v]

Exactly what I needed in my life rn

[@christopherenders4280]

The reason we haven't calculated all the digits of pi is because the mathematicians ran out of hot dogs.

[@elvifox1582]

Yes, exactly what I needed, 10/10 method

[@melancholiamusic2799]

Thanks, I had been waiting for this video for 314 years

[@niceicegd]

Thanks wikihow, this will definitley be useful probably maybe

[@AiOinc1]

Vsauce will someday start a video by throwing 300 frozen hot dogs on the floor

[@henryhargraves4184]

I’m gonna try this during the exam. Walk into the room with 300 hot dogs and some gaffer tape

[@miniclip0703]

5 days ago, this is fresh knowledge

[@gregyoungman]

Wiki how always has the good stuff. I really needed to know this thank you

[@baconboi963]

this is somehow related to pi maybe because of the cylinder shape of the sausages

[@N25_CT13]

never thought i needed this

[@STA-3]

Who just randomly thinks: "I'm gonna throw some hotdogs and observe their landing."