Star Wars geeks celebrate May the 4th, but today is for all of us, geeks and non-geeks alike! Allow my friend, Steven Francis, and me to convince you to celebrate Pi Day by consuming an irresponsible quantity of pizza or a responsible quantity of beer!
Today’s date is March 14. On an American calendar, it may be written as 3.14, an approximation of the number Pi, written as the Greek letter . So, what is Pi and why make a fuss about it?
What is Pi ()?
If you take a tape measure to find the length of the diameter of a circle, then multiply that by Pi, the result will be the distance around that circle, known as its circumference. Said differently, if you cut the crust from one pizza and straighten it out into a line, then the length of this line will cut across Pi pans, that’s 3 pans and a bite to go.
Why not celebrate Pi Day with a pizza night?! If you needed an excuse, you could take it as an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of Pi: Anyone for an educational Margherita?
Pi Day at the local pub (let’s make it a thing!)
If, instead of going to a pizza parlour, you decide to celebrate Pi Day at your local pub, let us show you a way to impress your friends there. Order drinks that come in cups and glasses of different heights. Pick one and ask, “Is the height of this glass greater than the circumference of its rim?” Have a look at the cup and the glasses in Figure 2 below. How many would you guess have a greater height than their rim’s circumference?
Looking at the coffee cup, most people may realise that the rim is longer than the cup is tall. By the time you get to the tallest glass, most people will say that the height is greater than the circumference of the rim. This is where you need to throw the gauntlet and bet that the distance around the rim of the glass is greater than its height.
Multiply diameter of this glass, 8cm, by any approximation of Pi, even simply 3, and you will get a number upwards of 24cm. This is the distance around the rim, which is definitely greater than the 20cm height of the glass.
Test your memory
Pi Day also appeals to memory athletes. Since the number goes on forever, people compete over reciting it to tens of thousands of decimal places. Rajeev Meena holds the official Guinness World Record with 70,000 digits. He did it over 9 and a half hours! So, if you have nothing better to do today, look up Pi and see how many of its digits you can memorise.
Want to learn more about Pi?
We hope that we have convinced you that today’s worth celebrating with a toast or a pizza. If you want to learn more about Pi, we highly recommend this article, written for the general public by mathematician Steven Strogatz, about Pi’s contribution to modern life.
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