🚀 go-pugleaf

son3776@utdallas.edu writes:

> Constants such as planck's constant, etc. were first realized through 
> mathematical calculations (algebra, calculus, differential equations -- 
> if that's not math, then I don't know what is).  Later they were 
> confirmed by experimentation.
> 
> However, there were other constants that were discovered experimentally 
> (elementary charge, etc.) that were later found to fit nicely into 
> equations (although with elementary charge it was because it was found 
> alongside another unknown constant).

This is just sad.  The Planck constant was introduced in a 
mathematical equation, obviously, but the value of this constant was 
intended to be determined experimentally.  It is not a mathematical 
constant by any stretch of the imagination.  Even if the Planck 
constant were shown to be derived from other physical constants, that 
still makes it just as physical, because its value is dependent on 
other physical constants, which themselves must be determined 
experimentally.

The fact that pi can be calculated to arbitrary accuracy without 
regard to any physical interpretation demonstrates that pi is a 
mathematical constant, not a physical one.


Erik Max Francis, &tSftDotIotE ...!uuwest!alcyone!max max@alcyone.darkside.com
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