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Why is there no equation for the perimeter of an ellipse‽

Stand-up Maths · explainer · Watch on YouTube

Recreational & visual mathPure mathematics

What it is

Stand-up Maths explains why the perimeter of an ellipse has no simple closed-form equation, showing the infinite series and presenting approximation formulas.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Cited as an accessible explanation of why some simple shapes lack neat exact formulas.

  • 1 people recommended it
  • 1 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2020, last 2023

What HN commenters said

  1. “the info on calculating the actual value starts at 14 minutes (it's an infinite series).”

    Shows how to compute ellipse perimeter via infinite series.

    ars, 2022-10 · Recommendation · in “An old Encyclopaedia Britannica is a work to cherish”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: ellipse, closed form, approximation, infinite series, mathematics

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