ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Wallis product

Hey kiddo,
Do you know what multiplication is? It's when we take two numbers and add them repeatedly to get a bigger number. For example, 2 x 4 = 8, because we add 2 four times.

Now, the Wallis Product is a special type of multiplication that helps us find the value of something called pi. Pi is a very special number that helps us calculate the circumference (the distance around) a circle.

The Wallis Product looks like this:
π/2 = 2/1 x 2/3 x 4/3 x 4/5 x 6/5 x 6/7 x 8/7 x 8/9 x 10/9 x 10/11...

It might look a little strange, but basically what we're doing is multiplying fractions together in a pattern. The top (numerator) of each fraction is always an even number, and the bottom (denominator) is always an odd number.

It might seem like a strange way to find the value of pi, but if we keep multiplying these fractions together, we can get closer and closer to the value of pi.

So, that's the Wallis Product! It's a special type of multiplication that helps us find the value of pi. Cool, huh?