This is topic Happy Pi Day! in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
 
That's right, it's 3/14. Be sure to contemplate this glorious number at 1:59 today.
 
Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
 
But I don't wanna... </whine>

I remember in Geometry in my freshmen year of high school, we had to celebrate Pi Day by doing a project. I designed a website that discussed pi and what basic roles it can play (the website has since died since the free hosting service cuts off all the free people), and then I made a pizza pie (with a large pi symbol made of pepperonis in the center).
 
Posted by Chanie (Member # 9544) on :
 
We have a pie eating contest today.
 
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
 
In just under 45 minutes it will be 3:14pm on the east coast of the US. I missed 1:59pm though.
 
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
 
I'm going to the grocery store for pie now. WOO!
 
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
 
I will increase my piety today, but only today.
 
Posted by Tinros (Member # 8328) on :
 
I was walking back from a calculus exam when the realization hit me. I stopped dead in my tracks and tilted my head to the side, exclaiming:

"I just had my final math final on pi day."

Everyone around me, all strangers, burst out laughing.
 
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
 
Fresh hot apple pi in our office today.

And Tinros, that's perfect!! [Smile]
 
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
 
[ROFL]

That's hilarious Tinros.

You guys know there are two Pi days in every year right? The other one is 7/22, cause in brit notation that's 22/7 which is the fractional approximation of pie. It also happens to be my birthday O:)
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
Actually, the correct time to observe this would be at 3/14 15:92, which works out to 4:32pm.
 
Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :
 
In math, we had a competition to see who could memorize the most digits of pi by breaktime in school. The winner would get 10 points extra credit in math. If you can get at least the first 10 numbers you're guarenteed 5 points. I got 40 something digits correct. The winner had like 110.
 
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
 
quote:
Fresh hot apple pi in our office today.

Goody, did it look like this? [Big Grin]
 
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Lisa:
Actually, the correct time to observe this would be at 3/14 15:92, which works out to 4:32pm.

By jove this woman speaks the truth!
 
Posted by Griffin (Member # 7166) on :
 
:) This is what I've memorized

3.141592653589793238462643383279
 
Posted by dantesparadigm (Member # 8756) on :
 
I have the first 100 digits memorized, and I went around all day proselytizing the glories of pi. I didn't have any pie, but it happened to be my annoying friends birthday, and my non- annoying friend made her a cake, so I had pi-cake.
 
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by sndrake:
quote:
Fresh hot apple pi in our office today.

Goody, did it look like this? [Big Grin]
Awwwwwww man I knew I forgot something!!!!! (well, other than the vanilla ice cream, that is...)
 
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
 
see, it was actually fated that I become an engineer... curses to being born on pi day! curses I say!
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Griffin:
[Smile] This is what I've memorized

3.141592653589793238462643383279

Pi. When I was in 6th grade, I had a friend named Robert. He and I found a page one day that had pi on it, up to like a thousand places. Grouped five digits at a time. He memorized up to 200. I had it up to about 50. Now I just have the first 35 in my head.

3.14159265358979323846462338327950288

And the last 15 of those doesn't come clear any more unless I sing the song from that link in my head. Theoretically, I could use that site to get 191 digits, but I haven't had free time I felt like spending on it.
 
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
 
I hate memorization. Just gonna throw that out there, if I need Pi to some absurd number of places I just pull it up in maple [Razz]
 
Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :
 
Lisa, after 3238 you made a few mistakes.
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
Ah, I swapped the 4 and the 2. Oops.
 
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
 
I slept through pi time! Which is really too bad, since my university's math department serves several different types at almost 2.
 
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
 
That means I turn twenty in two more days! [Cry]
 
Posted by Tara (Member # 10030) on :
 
quote:
Actually, the correct time to observe this would be at 3/14 15:92, which works out to 4:32pm.
Wouldn't that be 3:32?
 
Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :
 
The 92 minutes brings it to 16 hours, which is 4 o'clock.
 
Posted by Mathematician (Member # 9586) on :
 
Foxnews said that people have now calculated pi out to 1 trillion decimal places. I don't know if I believe it or not - Last time I checked, we had calculated just over 200 billion of the decimal places of it (this was done in 2000). We certainly have the technology to compute it out to 1 trillion digits, but whether or not someone has (and it's been verified?)

For those who care (and those that don't) - some relatively interesting facts about pi:

1. Pi is irrational. This means there are NO 2 natural numbers (1,2,3,...), say a and b, so that pi = a/b.

Note that you can approximate pi to any degree of accuracy that you please with fractions of natural numbers, you just can't ever get it exact.

(Showing all this is hard, but not TOO hard, especially when compared with showing....:

2. Pi is transcendental. That means there is NO polynomail equation with integer coeffecients that pi satisfies.

Polynomials with integer coeffecients are things like f(x) = x^2 - 45 x + 2 or f(x) = 238x^323321 - 829394732x^2343298 + 8234932x^2 +17.

I'm saying there isn't a single one so that when you plug in pi for x, you get 0.

(for the math wiz wannabee's, it's relatively easy to prove statement 1 if you assume statement 2 - give it a shot)

Interestingly, it is also known that e (the base of the natural logarithm) is also transcendental. It is known that e^pi is transcental. And that at least one of e + pi and e*pi are transcendental (but no one knows which, or if both are)


3. Pi may or may not be normal - everyone thinks it is, but no one has proven it. Being normal means that the digits of pi are uniformly distributed. An equivalent definition of normal is that any finite string of numbers that you can imagine appears in the decimal expansion of pi.

A paper recently came out which, if found to be true, will show that pi is normal, but so far it hasn't been refereed (checked for accuracy)

4. The digits of pi continue for ever, without ever repeating. (For those memorizing digitis - congratulations, you've now memorized 0% of it ;) )


That's all I got now. Happy Pi day!
 
Posted by Mr.Funny (Member # 4467) on :
 
I'm wearing my pi shirt.
 
Posted by Nato (Member # 1448) on :
 
Hey Shigosei. I was going to send you a message today at 1:59, but I guess I lost your phone number! Happy Pi Day anyway!
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Mathematician:
4. The digits of pi continue for ever, without ever repeating. (For those memorizing digitis - congratulations, you've now memorized 0% of it [Wink] )

At the end of Carl Sagan's Contact (the book, natch), pi starts coming out as only repetitions of 1 and 0.
 
Posted by Omega M. (Member # 7924) on :
 
Remember the Simpsons episode where Professor Frink is trying to get a group of scientists to be quiet and so yells, "Pi is equal to twenty-two sevenths!", following it up after the shocked silence with, "Sorry I had to get rough with you ..."?
 
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
 
Yeah! That's the one where Lisa realises that bullies pick on nerds based on a pheremone that nerds produce and gets to show her findings to the ner- I mean scientist convention and they all get beat up. Good episode.
 
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
 
Lisa: I love that little touch. If I recall correctly, the ones and zeroes could be printed out in a grid to form a circle.
 
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
 
So what flavors of pi are on tap for today? [Big Grin]
 
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
 
I think I was actually awake at 1:59AM today. I shouldn't have been though...

Happypiday.
 
Posted by anti_maven (Member # 9789) on :
 
Boo and hiss - for me, with UK format, it is merely:

14/3/2008

Which is in no way interesting.

I have to wait until the 3rd of Iptomber to wear my "Hooplah for Pi Day" Tshirt. [Frown]

However in less than six years time I will be able to wear my "Skip for Joy, its √2 Day!" commemoratitive sash...

*1st April 2014 - 1/4/14
 
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
 
I like the 2008/03/14 format better. I guess it's the computer guy in my speaking, it's easier to sort files this way than if you use 14/03/2008. [Smile] ...and I'm European.
 
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
 
I just finished reading Life of Pi the other day . . . I guess I should have timed it better!
 
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
 
What, everybody eats pies, nobody throws them anymore? How depressing.
 
Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :
 
"In just under 45 minutes it will be 3:14pm on the east coast of the US. I missed 1:59pm though."

It took me way too long of a time to figure out how this was posted in the future. I couldn't figure it out until I saw my own post in this thread. [Blushing]
 
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
 
I suppose it's a good evening to make pumpkin pie. Which I was going to make anyway.
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
The problem is, you can't eat pi pieces of pie. Pieces of pie are always integers, because half a piece of pie is a piece of pie. They're sort of like crumbs in that way.

You'd have to have the ISO determine an actual measure called "piece" for pies in order to be able to eat pi pieces of pie. Which could actually suck the entire earth into a wormhole.

Or something.
 
Posted by Jeorge (Member # 11524) on :
 
My first day on the board and it's PI day! [Smile] I like to sing the first 26 digits of pi to the tune of the ABC song - or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, if you prefer [Wink] and end with "Now I know my song of PI, next I'll poke you in the eye"
 
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
 
quote:
Remember the Simpsons episode where Professor Frink is trying to get a group of scientists to be quiet and so yells, "Pi is equal to twenty-two sevenths!", following it up after the shocked silence with, "Sorry I had to get rough with you ..."?
I'm pretty sure he yelled "Pi is exactly 3!"

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/PI_equals_exactly_three
 
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
 
I actually thought that I had taken it a little far by memorizing 3.1415927.

Maybe I had.
 
Posted by Mr.Funny (Member # 4467) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Mr.Funny:
I'm wearing my pi shirt.

The statement still stands.

Also, the hour before pi day started, I memorized another 40 digits, for a total of 100.

3.1415926535897932384626833832795028841971693993751058298749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679...
 
Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Lisa:
Actually, the correct time to observe this would be at 3/14 15:92, which works out to 4:32pm.

Or 3:49 am, which is roughly .159 of a day. Or 3:29, which is roughly .14159 of a day.
 
Posted by Jeorge (Member # 11524) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Mr.Funny:
Also, the hour before pi day started, I memorized another 40 digits, for a total of 100.

3.1415926535897932384626833832795028841971693993751058298749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679...

unless my memory is failing me, you've got a couple mistyped/misremembered numbers in there. [Eek!]
 
Posted by Mr.Funny (Member # 4467) on :
 
Hmm. Yeah, there are several errors in there - it's not memorization problems so much as mistyping. I blame the lack of a numpad on the laptop.

3.1415926535897932384626833832795028841971693993751058298749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679
(mistakes are bolded)

Here's the correct set of digits.

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679

Thanks for pointing that out.
 
Posted by orlox (Member # 2392) on :
 
BBC story on Pi Day

Mathemagic
 


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