When you hear “Pi” you probably think of the sweet treat that you eat at Thanksgiving, the kind with many flavors like pumpkin, apple, chocolate, maybe even pecan. However that is not the pie I’m talking about, I mean pi, you know, the term you’ve heard over and over in math class, 3.14. While math isn’t always the most liked, the number pi is really interesting to learn about. 

Pi day happens on March 14th, because the first 3 digits of pi are 3.14, and obviously March 14th is 3/14. Pi occurs when you take the circumference of a circle and divide it by its diameter. It is represented by the Greek letter “π”, or “p”. Now what makes pi so interesting is that it actually goes on forever without repeating itself at all. You use pi to calculate circles, arches, or any kind of curve. This makes it applicable to various real world problems, and is especially useful to engineers and architects. Pi has been a popular idea for thousands of years, there being many famous mathematicians who contributed to the pi we learn about in school. One being Archimedes of Syracuse, an ancient Greek mathematician who is credited with the first calculation of pi. 

Lots of people like to celebrate Pi Day for fun. Sometimes people make pie for their friends or family — or pie them — as a way to make the occasion extra fun and memorable. Others like to enjoy things themed around math and pi. One of our math teachers at Walkersville, Ms. Humphries dedicated her lesson to Pi Day by having lots of fun activities that related back to pi. Ms. Humphries said, “I did a history lesson on things like Einstein, who was born on pi day, what pi is, when you use it, what an irrational number is, etcetera.” (For those of you who don’t know, an irrational number is when a number goes on forever without repeating). She also explained that depending on the class they did a specific challenge leading back to pi. One class took the digits 3.14, and then found numbers 1-30 by using addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponents, or factorials through different equations. These activities were both fun and challenging for students – perfect for Pi Day. 

Now, I just had to ask different people how many digits of pi they know in honor of this day. Some memorize it in a unique way, like the famous 100 Digits of Pi Song by AsapSCIENCE, or find a way to learn it on their own. First I asked some math teachers. Mrs. Humphries was able to name 5 digits after 3: “3.14159”. Mrs. Girard named, “3.14” and finally Mr. Williams, could list seven digits: “3.1415926”. One student I asked could name up to 39 digits, which is very impressive! Another could name “3.14159,” and when she tried to continue, could only remember the tune of the 100 digits of Pi song. Honestly though, memorizing anything to do with numbers gets tricky! How many digits of Pi do you know?

For anyone looking for something fun to do this Pi Day, or future Pi Day’s; here is a recipe to make a Pi Pie.