Question

What mathematical symbol in math whiz Ferdinand von Lindemann determined to be a transcendental number in \[1882\] ?

Answer 1

Hint: In order to solve this problem, we must have a historical knowledge about the inventions and discoveries of numbers, and about transcendental numbers in particular for this question. We should also know what a transcendental number means.

Complete step-by-step solution:
In Mathematics, we can define a transcendental number as a real number that is not algebraic as well as is not the solution of any single variable polynomial equation whose coefficients are known to be all integers (basically whole numbers).
Transcendental numbers are generally irrational numbers. But keep in mind that there are some irrational numbers that are not transcendental. Let's See a Few Examples of Transcendental Numbers:
1. Pi, denoted by the symbol $\pi $ which is equal to the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter in a plane.
2. Exponential constant denoted by $e$ , which is the base of the natural logarithm.
It took until the year $1873$ for the first "non-constructed" number to be proved as transcendental when mathematician Charles Hermite proved that he was transcendental. Then in the year $1882$ , Ferdinand von Lindemann proved transcendental. That pi was transcendental. In fact, proving that a number is Transcendental is quite difficult, even though these transcendental numbers are known to be very common.
Thus, we can conclude that the mathematical symbol in math whiz Ferdinand von Lindemann determined to be a transcendental number in \[1882\] is $\pi $ .

Note: We should always have a historical knowledge of numbers besides using them in our notebooks. Inventions and discoveries are important and we should remember them. We should not confuse the invention of $1882$ with that of $1873$ .