Tomorrow 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!
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.
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.
Want to remember pi more easily? Use the delightfully geeky trigonometric chant:
Cosine, secant, tangent, sine!
Three point one four one five nine!
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!
Want some gear to along with that pi? We’ve got your covered!