If I lost a leg I'd be twice the size
When grown up I cause many multiplies
Maybe mistaken for a fifth in Rome
Or for twelve thirteenths in a modern home
What am I?
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
1
-
$\begingroup$ Happy (British) Pie Week. $\endgroup$– StrawberryMar 14, 2017 at 14:27
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
13
You are
$\pi$
If I lost a leg I'd be twice the size
By removing one vertical line from $\pi$ we get $\tau$, which is a standard mathematical notation for $2\pi$; see for example the links http://www.thepimanifesto.com/ and https://xkcd.com/1292/
When grown up I cause many multiplies
$\prod$ is used as symbol for products in mathematical equations.
Maybe mistaken for a fifth in Rome
Aicient Greek (not sure what this has to do with Rome) notation for 5 was something that resembles as PI. . Thanks to Jan Ivan
Or for twelve thirteenths in a modern home
I got nothing here. Still looking for something that matches.
Bonus (Before the Ides of March)
Happy Pi day. March 14. The Ides of March was March 15th in Rome.
-
3$\begingroup$ rome 5 is proly just = V, but greek ancient 5 = Π $\endgroup$– Jan IvanMar 14, 2017 at 9:56
-
3$\begingroup$ Line 2: In mathematics, the capital-pi is used to denote products (in the same way as the capital-sigma is used to denote summations) $\endgroup$– GamowMar 14, 2017 at 12:03
-
1$\begingroup$ Two years ago I solved another puzzle in this spirit: puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/10264/the-green-searcher $\endgroup$– GamowMar 14, 2017 at 12:10
-
1$\begingroup$ @Gamow. I see your move, and answer with this move: tauday.com/tau-digits $\endgroup$– MariusMar 14, 2017 at 13:21
-
1$\begingroup$ @Gamow, Also, from here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi "In 1958 Albert Eagle proposed replacing π by τ (tau), where τ = π/2, to simplify formulas. However, no other authors are known to use τ in this way. Some people use a different value, τ = 6.283185... = 2π ...." $\endgroup$– MariusMar 14, 2017 at 13:25