360 degrees.

Replies

• 

  PraveenKumar Purushothaman

  ishutopre

  This is not exactly a puzzle.I have invented this myself.
  Have you ever wondered why we have a circle of 360 degrees only? When we can have it of 100 degrees,according to centi-scale?
  I think the answer is Earth.Earth rotates around Sun in 365 days with an eccentricity of 0.016.So we can assume it to be nearly 0 eccentricity.Hence we can safely assume this elliptical path as nearly a circle.
  In short
  
  Ellipse with an eccentricity =Circle
  of 0.016(365 days)
  Hence for calculation perpose we can take it as 360 degrees.
  Correct me if I am wrong.😀

  I still don't get you! 360 and 365, how are these two different figures related?
• 

  Ankita Katdare

  I've been wondering why the ancients kept a standard circle only to 360 degrees.
  😐
  I figured that it had something to do with the Babylonians, who used a base 60 number system.
  
  I found what I was looking for in a book called "A History of Pi" by Petr Beckmann, a mathematician from Czechoslovakia.
  
  Here's the passage:
  
  In 1936, a tablet was excavated some 200 miles from Babylon. Here one
  should make the interjection that the Sumerians were first to make one of
  man's greatest inventions, namely, writing; through written communication,
  knowledge could be passed from one person to others, and from one
  generation to the next and future ones. They impressed their cuneiform
  (wedge-shaped) script on soft clay tablets with a stylus, and the tablets
  were then hardened in the sun. The mentioned tablet, whose translation
  was partially published only in 1950, is devoted to various geometrical
  figures, and states that the ratio of the perimeter of a regular hexagon
  to the circumference of the circumscribed circle equals a number which in
  modern notation is given by 57/60 + 36/(60^2) (the Babylonians used the
  sexagesimal system, i.e., their base was 60 rather than 10).
  
  The Babylonians knew, of course, that the perimeter of a hexagon is
  exactly equal to six times the radius of the circumscribed circle, in fact
  that was evidently the reason why they chose to divide the circle into 360
  degrees (and we are still burdened with that figure to this day). The
  tablet, therefore, gives ... Pi = 25/8 = 3.125.
  
  So that's who gave us the 360 degrees in the circle. 😉
• 

  PraveenKumar Purushothaman

  AKD, its too much confusing to understand... But some great logic is there behind this and the compass based clock... 😛
• 

  shiwa436

  AbraKaDabra

  I've been wondering why the ancients kept a standard circle only to 360 degrees.
  😐
  I figured that it had something to do with the Babylonians, who used a base 60 number system.
  
  I found what I was looking for in a book called "A History of Pi" by Petr Beckmann, a mathematician from Czechoslovakia.
  
  Here's the passage:
  
  In 1936, a tablet was excavated some 200 miles from Babylon. Here one
  should make the interjection that the Sumerians were first to make one of
  man's greatest inventions, namely, writing; through written communication,
  knowledge could be passed from one person to others, and from one
  generation to the next and future ones. They impressed their cuneiform
  (wedge-shaped) script on soft clay tablets with a stylus, and the tablets
  were then hardened in the sun. The mentioned tablet, whose translation
  was partially published only in 1950, is devoted to various geometrical
  figures, and states that the ratio of the perimeter of a regular hexagon
  to the circumference of the circumscribed circle equals a number which in
  modern notation is given by 57/60 + 36/(60^2) (the Babylonians used the
  sexagesimal system, i.e., their base was 60 rather than 10).
  
  The Babylonians knew, of course, that the perimeter of a hexagon is
  exactly equal to six times the radius of the circumscribed circle, in fact
  that was evidently the reason why they chose to divide the circle into 360
  degrees (and we are still burdened with that figure to this day). The
  tablet, therefore, gives ... Pi = 25/8 = 3.125.
  
  So that's who gave us the 360 degrees in the circle. 😉

  Bit confused with this..
• 

  ISHAN TOPRE

  @AKD:Can we say thay earth traces a n arc of approximately 1 degree in 1 day around the Sun?
• 

  PraveenKumar Purushothaman

  ishutopre

  @AKD:Can we say thay earth traces a n arc of approximately 1 degree in 1 day around the Sun?

  Yeah, but even then it should be 365 degrees and not 360 right?
• 

  ISHAN TOPRE

  Well praveen, earth rotates around the Sun in an elliptical path of eccentricity 0.016.
  So we can approximate those extra 5 days as negligible
  365 days = Circle of 360 deg
  with e=0.016 with e=0
  
  that is why 1 day = 1 degree(Approx)
• 

  PraveenKumar Purushothaman

  So, 0.016 is equal to 5 days! 😛
• 

  silverscorpion

  Well, as AKD said above, circle having 360 degrees is because of Babylonians using sexagesimal system (base 60).
  It has nothing to do with the number of days in a year or earths' eccentricity (or so I believe 😉 )...
  
  It's due to the same reason that one degree is divided into 60 minutes and one minute into 60 seconds.
  But as to why a circle is having 360 degrees and not 60 degrees, I have no idea.
• 

  PraveenKumar Purushothaman

  What is the name of the instrument which uses this degree system and sun's direction to measure the time? It has a right angled triangle from the centre and it is supposed to be placed facing east. Forgot its name, does anyone know? I am not sure whether it is a compass or something.
• 

  durga ch

  @ praveen - its a sundail
• 

  PraveenKumar Purushothaman

  durga

  @ praveen - its a sundail

  Oh thanx, yeah. Forgot totally... 😀
• 

  mitul00719

  The circle is limited to 360 degrees becoz of base 60 system...try using base 10.nd work it out
• 

  PraveenKumar Purushothaman

  Base 60 system? If its base 360 system, then its accepted that 360 + 10 = 10. Can you explain?
• 

  Saandeep Sreerambatla

  Here is a simple explanation.
  
  Check this. #-Link-Snipped-#
• 

  PraveenKumar Purushothaman

  Nice explanation man!!! Base 60 is understood as in Seconds and Minutes... 😀
• 

  ISHAN TOPRE

  Great Explanation ES! good finding. After all ancient knowledge helps.
  
  Can I ask you one thing? How is the answer different from my previous reply. If you look closely, please explain. 😀
• 

  mitul00719

  how did the ancient know that the earh rotated in a circular manner but not ellpitcal. or any other.?
  i dont understand that how could hav they calculated the 360 degrees becoz eath does not move in a perfect circular path...
  any1 clarifying for me?
• 

  PraveenKumar Purushothaman

  mitul00719

  how did the ancient know that the earh rotated in a circular manner but not ellpitcal. or any other.?
  i dont understand that how could hav they calculated the 360 degrees becoz eath does not move in a perfect circular path...
  any1 clarifying for me?

  Simple, the circle or sphere is the basic shape of anything... Consider a water drop, it is sphere in shape. Another example is when you take a cube and rotate it. It becomes a sphere. By this way, they would have calculated that the shape of Earth is round, as Sun comes and goes, but it is static. But still, I have that doubt of 360 thingy! 😔
• 

  mitul00719

  thanks for clarifying 😀