Please, Be Irrational! Pi Day is Tomorrow!


March 13, 2015
5028 Views
Join the conversation on:

pi-dayTomorrow is Pi Day, a slightly silly recognition of the special number that is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. But it’s not just any Pi Day, it is the Pi Day of the century! Because pi is 3.1415926……..etc., Pi Day is held on March 14 every year (get it? 3-14?), but Pi Day this year is special because it is 2015, so now we can have 3-14-15, which won’t happen again for a hundred years!

Screen-Shot-2015-01-02-at-4.13.50-PM

For extra bonus, give a cheer at 9:26 am (and 53 seconds!) to squeeze in a few more place values of joy. But you’ll have to make a cut-off somewhere because pi just keeps going, and going, and going without repeating patterns.

89c12b16-51da-458a-999a-6fd25ab93e8a

It has been calculated out to a trillion digits (thanks, computers!) but most of the time, there’s no reason you’d need more than a couple dozen at the very most. Happily, for everyday estimations 3.14 will get you there, or 3.14159 if you want be more accurate.

b420b0dd74f053ce2dff869fc462eebd

Want to remember pi more easily? Use the delightfully geeky trigonometric chant:

Cosine, secant, tangent, sine!
Three point one four one five nine!

15341041

Find yourself in pi’s digits: Use the birthday (or other date) finder from www.mypiday.com to see where your date shows up in the endless string – it’s pretty, too!

size

Want some gear to along with that pi? We’ve got your covered!

10993425_880483855328773_2572656147306242780_n

Join us for a Pi Day celebration at HMNS Sugar Land the morning of 3/14/15, or check out more fun with pi from www.piday.org

Happy Pi Day, Everyone!

Authored By Carolyn L Leap

Carolyn coordinates the Science on Stage outreach program at HMNS and will blog about science toys and experiments, logic puzzles, and whatever else seems interesting at the time.


Equally Interesting Posts





Editor's Picks The Real Moon Hoax That You Haven’t Heard Of Is Darwin relevant today? Oh The Hermannity! The Story of Houston’s Most Beautiful Green Space A Few Member Benefits Most HMNS Members Don’t Know About What The Loss Of The Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro’s Collections Means To The World What Is The Deal With Brontosaurus?!
 

Stay in the know.
Join our mailing list.