TITLE: Approximation symbol: Is $\pi \approx 3.14\dots$ equivalent to $\pi \fallingdotseq 3.14\dots$?
QUESTION [11 upvotes]: This could be a trivial question, but what is exactly the difference of between these two expressions? Am I correct to state the both interchangeably whenever I need to express the approximation of $\pi$? I'm bit confused as here, it states $\pi$ can be express by $\fallingdotseq$ as it's not a rational number, but $\pi$ can also be expressed by a series (asymptotic), so it should be $\approx$ as well.
$$\pi \approx 3.14\dots$$ $$\pi \fallingdotseq 3.14\dots$$

REPLY [2 votes]: The $\approx$ symbol and the $ \fallingdotseq $ symbol both have the same denotation to generally mean "approximately", with the latter symbol commonly used throughout some Asian countries like Japan and Korea. You can read more about the symbols here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equals_sign