Question #c8e11

1 Answer
Jun 4, 2017

See Explanation:

Explanation:

Overall, without using computational algorithms and technology, there is no way to "calculate" the perimeter of an oval without extremely specific measurements.

A more accurate - and rather advanced - explanation or formula for finding the perimeter of an oval or ellipse approximates to:

#p approx 2pi sqrt((a^2+b^2)/2)#

A personal favourite mathematician of mine, Ramanujan, came up with a magnificently more accurate formula in his time at Cambridge.
This can be seen as:

#p = approx pi [ 3(a+b) - sqrt((3a+b)(a+3b))]#

Interestingly, all these perimeter formulas depend upon one (or two) vital variables and parameters. These include both the major (#a#) and minor (#b#) axis. This can be seen in the following graphic:

enter image source here

All the best!

Source of image.