Find the perimeter of an eClipse

[Glizdka]

Matt Parker made a video about why there's no well-defined equation for calculating the perimeter of an ellipse.

I think a /k/ slipped in at 5:00, making him accidentally say eclipse instead of ellipse. Am I right?

 

[GoesStation]

Yes.

 

[probus]

Although it is not part of elementary mathematics (because it uses integral calculus) there does indeed seem to be a formula for the circumference of an ellipse. See:

https://proofwiki.org/wiki/Perimete... K be an ellipse,sin2θdθ&text=P=∫π/20,sin2θdθ

 

[Glizdka]

Calculus can calculate any otherwise-uncalculatable object, no matter the shape or how non-Euclidian it is. The video is about there not being a neat formula, like the ones we have for many other geometric objects.



"Seducing a woman is like the cotangent function. No matter how close I get, I can never quite touch the pi." - Sir Isaac Newton, inventor of calculus, died a virgin.