Did you know that Pi Day is just around the corner? Every March 14, here at Mathnasium, along with mathematicians around the world, we celebrate the number pi. It could be argued that Pi Day is the biggest math holiday!
But what is pi, other than sounding like a delicious treat? Pi is a greek letter (𝝿) that we use in math. It represents the number found when you divide a circle’s circumference by its diameter. It is most commonly used in equations for area or circumference of a circle.
We celebrate Pi Day on March 14th because the first 3 significant digits of pi are 3.14, which using the US date format is March 14th!
- Here are some more fun facts about 𝝿 (pi):
- Evidence of pi being used dates back about 4000 years to Babylonia, and also exists in ancient Egypt, China, and Greece.
- Approximations of 3, 3 ⅛, and 22/7 have all been commonly used for pi. However, because pi is irrational it cannot be simplified into a fraction
- The number begins 3.14, but has infinitely many digits. Because we know pi is irrational, those digits never settle into a repeating pattern. Modern day mathematicians are still finding new digits of pi!
- Among the infinite digits are every day of the year. That means if you turn your birthday into digits (July 3rd becomes 703, or December 11th becomes 1211), you can find your birthday among the digits of pi. It just might take a while to find among the trillions of currently known digits!
- Even though pi is infinitely long, it’s a relatively small number between 3 and 4
- Albert Einstein’s birthday is the same day as Pi Day (March 14, 1879)
How to celebrate Pi Day:
- Get a pizza pie for dinner or a dessert pie!
- Estimate pi yourself or with your kids:
- Find any circular object (maybe your pie)
- Use a piece of string to measure the length around the side (the circumference) and cut it to size
- Then use another string to measure the length across the longest part of the circle, going through the center (the diameter), and cut that to size
- Measure the length of both strings and use a calculator to divide the circumference by the diameter (or the larger number divided by the smaller number)
- Check to see how close your answer is to Pi (3.14159265359…)
- Repeat with any number of circular objects and you should find that your answer is close to 3.14 every time!
- Bring your kids to celebrate with us this Pi Day at Mathnasium of Lindon. We will have fun activities learning about and using pi and pi related treats. Students can also show off their math skills with the number of digits of pi they have memorized for a prize!
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