Get Ready to Celebrate Pi!

26562342_lWhat will you be doing on 3/14/15 at precisely 9:26:53? Twice the clocks will align with the first few digits of my favorite irrational and transcendental number (3.141592653…) or π. Over 1 trillion digits to the right of the decimal point have been calculated, and they still go on, never making a pattern, never repeating.

Take any circle, that blueberry pie that your grandmother baked would be a good choice. Measure the circumference and divide by the diameter and you will have Pi, the mathematical constant that represents the ratio of circumference to diameter in a circle. You probably encountered Pi in your early mathematics education when learning the formula for the area of a circle (2πr2).

In celebration of Pi, here are a few Pi diversions to brighten your day.

  • What do you get if you divide the circumference of a jack o’lantern by its diameter? Pumpkin Pi
  • What do you get when you take the sun and divide its circumference by its diameter? Pi in the sky
  • My PIN is the last four digits of Pi.

USA today had this nice article about Pi day and a jealous hypotenuse.

pi day rational

So what will you do to celebrate this irrational number? Let us know how you celebrate.

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Michele Arduengo

Michele Arduengo

Supervisor, Digital Marketing Program Group at Promega Corporation
Michele earned her B.A. in biology at Wesleyan College in Macon, GA, and her PhD through the BCDB Program at Emory University in Atlanta, GA where she studied cell differentiation in the model system C. elegans. She taught on the faculty of Morningside University in Sioux City, IA, and continues to mentor science writers and teachers through volunteer activities. Michele manages the digital marketing program team at Promega.

2 comments

  1. Did you know that nearby Stoughton (Wisconsin) zip-code is the next 5 digits in pi following 3.1415926…so pi day at 9:26 should have been extra special there.

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