Best ways to Celebrate Pi Day 2014
By Brandon Butler,
Network World |
Mar 14, 2014 2:05 PM
PT
Pi is 3.14 (about), so that makes March 14 Pi Day
It’s the holiday for every mathematician small and large: Pi Day! If you’re not familiar, math enthusiasts around the world embrace March 14 to commemorate the mathematical constant. No matter the size of the circle, the ratio of its circumference to its diameter will always be 3.14. What better way to celebrate this than on 3/14? Here are 10 ways you and your math friends can celebrate the day. Be sure to check out our previous years’ guide to Pi Day for more tips on how to celebrate the holiday.
Related: 10 Awesome ways to celebrate Pi Day 2013
There are a variety of clothing pieces and accessories you can wear or purchase, including sweatshirts, hats and shirts. All of these were found at the Boston Science Museum’s gift store, but there are also a variety of online sites that sell Pi related clothing.
Can you think of a better tool to cut pizza with than a pi cutter?
In the March issue of the American Mathematical Monthly, there is some new commentary on the number pi. Mathematicians David H. Bailey and Jonathan Browein explore whether pi’s digits are statistically random. Powerful modern computers can help mathematicians answer questions that still linger about the number using analytics software. While the numbers never repeat in pi, Bailey and Browein go searching for patterns.
On March 14, 2007 the New York Times had a handful of clues that included the pi symbol in their answers to celebrate pi day, the answers to which are pictured above. Mathgoodies.com has its own pi and circle-themed crossword puzzles to do here.
Can you figure out the phrase associated with this image? (Answer next slide)
And afterwards, feel free to treat yourself to some pie.
Answer from previous slide: “Pie in the Sky”
PiDay.org, the unofficial site of Pi Day enthusiasts has tools bloggers can install on their websites with a countdown clock to Pi Day.
Why only celebrate pi on 3/14? Folks have some up with plenty of other excuses to celebrate pi on other days of the year. July 22, for example is the closest fraction to represent pi (22/7=3.14).
Math and music go well together, so there are a number of pi-related music videos. Some are good, some are not so great. We liked this one, where Michael Blake uses various instruments to “play” the number pi. He’s assigned different notes to the numerals and plays the notes in the order of pi. Technically, that could be the song that never ends…
Pi lovers, take notice: On this day to celebrate pi, there are some haters out there. Some math enthusiasts have undertaken a movement to use tau instead of pi in mathematical equations. Tau equals 2 pi, which some argue is a more logical way to measure a circle. For an explanation, watch the video. And if you do defect to Tau instead of pi, we’ll help you celebrate Tau Day too (6/28).
While Pi Day is an official national holiday, as ordained by the U.S. Congress in 2009, next year’s Pi Day on March 14, 2015 will be extra special because the date (3/14/15) has the first five digits of pi, not just the first three like most other pi days. So, enjoy today, but get ready for a big celebration next year.
Welcome to March 14 – international Pi Day! You remember pi – the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, also known as 3.14, plus so much more. To celebrate, each March 14 nerds around the world unite to celebrate the math holiday. This year we've come up with 10 different ways to show your love of pi. For even more ideas, check out our list from last year, which has 10 other suggestions! Happy Pi Daying!
There's no shortage of pi-themed collectables on the Internet, ranging from these fashionable earrings at Etsy in the shape of the pi symbol, to T-shirts for the nerds among us. "My pin is the last four digits of Pi," reads one shirt. For more ideas of pi-themed memorabilia, check out Etsy's fantastic selection here.
There are holidays, and then there are holidays for nerds, and March 14 (3.14) is one of those. Based on the mathematical constant number that represents the ratio between the circumference and the diameter of a circle, Pi Day has grown to become somewhat of a day to celebrate for mathematicians and techies. Here are 10 things to do on the big day.
For those of you who are wordsmiths, there are ways to celebrate the day through the written word as well. For example,write a pi-ku or a pi-em, all about pi. NPR asked readers to submit pi-kus in which the first line has three syllables, the second line has one and the third line has four. Here’s one:
Hello Pi
Oh...
Endless digits
Got one of your own? Leave it in the comments section.
Pi goes on forever, so you can’t possibly recite them all. But, there are contests to see just how far you can go. Can you beat Benjamin Most, who recited 2,552 digits?
RELATED: FASCINATING: 28 facts about pi that you probably didn't know
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