Celebrating today is just as easy as pi! No, that is not a typo. Today I'm celebrating Pi Day, a day designated for the celebration of the mathematical constant Pi.
Being a mathematician, today's a very special day for me. I won't bore all you non-math geeks with the fascinating details about Pi, its history, and its applications. You can read a summary about it at Wikipedia. Rather, today's blogpost is full of fun information about Pi Day: ways to celebrate, news of a world record holder, cool music videos, and an announcement.
Basically, Pi is the circumference divided by the diameter of a circle. It approximately equals 3.14159. The date of Pi Day celebrations may vary. It may be celebrated on:
Being a mathematician, today's a very special day for me. I won't bore all you non-math geeks with the fascinating details about Pi, its history, and its applications. You can read a summary about it at Wikipedia. Rather, today's blogpost is full of fun information about Pi Day: ways to celebrate, news of a world record holder, cool music videos, and an announcement.
Basically, Pi is the circumference divided by the diameter of a circle. It approximately equals 3.14159. The date of Pi Day celebrations may vary. It may be celebrated on:
- March 14 (3/14 in American date format) at 1:59:26 pm (the Pi minute)
- July 22 (European date format of 22/7)
- Nov 10 (the 314th day of the year, or Nov 9 in leap years)
- Jan 3 at 4:16 for those who don't use the American date format
How should one celebrate Pi Day? Be creative. Here are some ideas:
- March around in a circle at the Pi minute
- Eat a pizza
- Eat pie for dessert
- Use it in every day language (For example, in a survey, on a scale of 1-10 how satisfied are you with..? 3.14) My real-life example: How many pieces of toast did I burn this week by starting to read my e-mail after putting it in the oven? 3.14
- Instead of walking 3 miles today, walk 3.14
- Ride a ferris wheel
- Check the air pressure in your tires today
- Petition Nascar and the IRL to schedule a race day on Pi Day!
Pi is a transcendental number - it isn't rational, nor can it be expressed with fractional exponents. For the non-math geeks, that just means it has an infinite number of digits. The numerical value of Pi truncated to 50 decimal places is:
3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510
So far we know it has been calculated to 1.7 trillion digits.
Maybe you thought about memorizing and reciting some digits of Pi today. Even long before computers calculated Pi, memorizing a record number of digits became an obsession for some people. Per Wikipedia, in 2006, a retired Japanese engineer, claimed to have recited 100,000 decimal places, but it has not been verified by Guinness World Records. A 24-year-old graduate student from China currently holds the Guinness world record for remembered digits of Pi at 67,890 digits. It only took him 24 hours and 4 minutes to recite those 67,890 digits without an error.
I'm a musician too and, as you know, you'll likely see a music video on my blog if I can find one on the topic of the day. I was delighted to find numerous great music videos for Pi Day. You can view one below (3.14 Cheers for Al and Cal!!), but I've included links also for my other favorites.
Say that Funky Number, Math Guy
As posted on YouTube by AlgBra314159 (cute member name!)
More great videos:
1) What does Pi sound like? I'm a pianist and was lucky to find a video where you can hear how Pi would sound when played on the piano. Each numerical digit was assigned a specific musical note. The piano solo plays the first 1000 digits of pi. Cool!
2) A music video Mathematical Pi set to the tune of American Pie can be heard online If you want to learn this, see the lyrics and chords also.
3) A rap music video on Pi by pimanrules.
4) A song whose lyrics include simply the digits of Pi.
5) If you'd rather watch a short film, here's a link to Action Pi.
Now for my announcement. I've set my wedding date. I'm going to be married on the most romantic day of the year: Pi Day. I'll be married on March 14 at 1:59:26 pm. At the fear of being labeled a geek forever, why would I choose Pi Day to marry? Because like Pi, our love will continue forever. (awwwwww) You'll all be invited. I'll let you know the year as soon as I secure a fiance. : )
3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510
So far we know it has been calculated to 1.7 trillion digits.
Maybe you thought about memorizing and reciting some digits of Pi today. Even long before computers calculated Pi, memorizing a record number of digits became an obsession for some people. Per Wikipedia, in 2006, a retired Japanese engineer, claimed to have recited 100,000 decimal places, but it has not been verified by Guinness World Records. A 24-year-old graduate student from China currently holds the Guinness world record for remembered digits of Pi at 67,890 digits. It only took him 24 hours and 4 minutes to recite those 67,890 digits without an error.
I'm a musician too and, as you know, you'll likely see a music video on my blog if I can find one on the topic of the day. I was delighted to find numerous great music videos for Pi Day. You can view one below (3.14 Cheers for Al and Cal!!), but I've included links also for my other favorites.
Say that Funky Number, Math Guy
As posted on YouTube by AlgBra314159 (cute member name!)
More great videos:
1) What does Pi sound like? I'm a pianist and was lucky to find a video where you can hear how Pi would sound when played on the piano. Each numerical digit was assigned a specific musical note. The piano solo plays the first 1000 digits of pi. Cool!
2) A music video Mathematical Pi set to the tune of American Pie can be heard online If you want to learn this, see the lyrics and chords also.
3) A rap music video on Pi by pimanrules.
4) A song whose lyrics include simply the digits of Pi.
5) If you'd rather watch a short film, here's a link to Action Pi.
Now for my announcement. I've set my wedding date. I'm going to be married on the most romantic day of the year: Pi Day. I'll be married on March 14 at 1:59:26 pm. At the fear of being labeled a geek forever, why would I choose Pi Day to marry? Because like Pi, our love will continue forever. (awwwwww) You'll all be invited. I'll let you know the year as soon as I secure a fiance. : )
Image credit: interactive mathematics
No comments:
Post a Comment