Pi Day is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14 (3/14 in the month/day format) since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant digits of π. Pi Day was founded by Physicist Larry Shaw in 1988. In 2009, the United States House of Representatives supported the designation of Pi Day.
Pi is an irrational number, which means it cannot be represented as a simple fraction, and those numbers cannot be represented as terminating or repeating decimals. Therefore, the digits of pi go on forever in a seemingly random sequence.
Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159.
History of Pi
By measuring circular objects, it has always turned out that a circle is a little more than 3 times its width around. In the Old Testament of the Bible (1 Kings 7:23), a circular pool is referred to as being 30 cubits around, and 10 cubits across. The mathematician Archimedes used polygons with many sides to approximate circles and determined that Pi was approximately 22/7. The symbol (Greek letter π) was first used in 1706 by William Jones. A ‘p’ was chosen for ‘perimeter’ of circles, and the use of π became popular after it was adopted by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler in 1737. In recent years, Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits past its decimal. Only 39 digits past the decimal are needed to accurately calculate the spherical volume of our entire universe, but because of Pi’s infinite & pattern less nature, it’s a fun challenge to memorize, and to computationally calculate more and more digits.
Geometry
The number pi is extremely useful when solving geometry problems involving circles. Here are some examples:
The area of a circle (Area of a circle calculator).
A = πr2
Where ‘r’ is the radius (distance from the center to the edge of the circle). Also, this formula is the origin of the joke “Pies aren’t square, they’re round!”
The volume of a cylinder (Volume calculator).
V = πr2h
To find the volume of a rectangular prism, you calculate length x width x height. In that case, length x width is the area of one side (the base), which is then multiplied by the height of the prism. Similarly, to find the volume of a cylinder, you calculate the area of the base (the area of the circle), then multiply that by the height (h) of the cylinder.
Mathematicians, scientists and teachers hope the holiday will help increase interest in math and science nationwide, through instruction, museum exhibitions, pie-eating (or throwing) contests and much more. It seems this kitschy national holiday can satisfy the left-brained and the sweet-tooth inclined. How will you be celebrating?
Pi is an irrational number, which means it cannot be represented as a simple fraction, and those numbers cannot be represented as terminating or repeating decimals. Therefore, the digits of pi go on forever in a seemingly random sequence.
Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159.
History of Pi
By measuring circular objects, it has always turned out that a circle is a little more than 3 times its width around. In the Old Testament of the Bible (1 Kings 7:23), a circular pool is referred to as being 30 cubits around, and 10 cubits across. The mathematician Archimedes used polygons with many sides to approximate circles and determined that Pi was approximately 22/7. The symbol (Greek letter π) was first used in 1706 by William Jones. A ‘p’ was chosen for ‘perimeter’ of circles, and the use of π became popular after it was adopted by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler in 1737. In recent years, Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits past its decimal. Only 39 digits past the decimal are needed to accurately calculate the spherical volume of our entire universe, but because of Pi’s infinite & pattern less nature, it’s a fun challenge to memorize, and to computationally calculate more and more digits.
Geometry
The number pi is extremely useful when solving geometry problems involving circles. Here are some examples:
The area of a circle (Area of a circle calculator).
A = πr2
Where ‘r’ is the radius (distance from the center to the edge of the circle). Also, this formula is the origin of the joke “Pies aren’t square, they’re round!”
The volume of a cylinder (Volume calculator).
V = πr2h
To find the volume of a rectangular prism, you calculate length x width x height. In that case, length x width is the area of one side (the base), which is then multiplied by the height of the prism. Similarly, to find the volume of a cylinder, you calculate the area of the base (the area of the circle), then multiply that by the height (h) of the cylinder.
Mathematicians, scientists and teachers hope the holiday will help increase interest in math and science nationwide, through instruction, museum exhibitions, pie-eating (or throwing) contests and much more. It seems this kitschy national holiday can satisfy the left-brained and the sweet-tooth inclined. How will you be celebrating?
No comments:
Post a Comment