The World of PI
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Now, we all know that Pi, the mathematical constant, is nothing but the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Apart from being a real number, useful in physics, mathematics and engineering there are other facts that we might not be aware of. And of course not to mention the funny yet main reason behind this vague post.
First of all let me point out that, what we have been using (or atleast I have been) for most of our calculations i.e. Pi = 22/7 is incorrect. Actually 22/7 = 3.142857 whereas Pi = 3.141592. Hence 22/7 > Pi.
Pi Day - An unofficial holiday held to celebrate Pi. Pi Day is observed on March 14 (3-14 or3/14). Actually its celebrated at 1:59 PM, thereby adding few more digits that would approach Pi. People even eat Pie, drink Pina Colada, eat Pineapple and/or watch the movie Pi.
Pi Approximation Day - Celebrated on July 22 (7-22 or 7/22)
Feynman Point - It is the 762nd through 767th decimal places of Pi and consists of the digit 9 repeated six times. Talking about Feynman you guys should read "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman"
The first occurence of the sequence 0123456789 is found in the decimal expansion of Pi starting at 17,387,594,880thdigit. Holy Crap !!
The world record for the number of decimal places - expansion of Pi stands at > One Trillion; performed by two Japanese scientists and took only about 600 hours !!! A short expansion can be found here.
I wont reveal much but just imagine - he was named after a Swimming Pool !!!!
Archived in: Books English Pi Patel Feynman Amazon
First of all let me point out that, what we have been using (or atleast I have been) for most of our calculations i.e. Pi = 22/7 is incorrect. Actually 22/7 = 3.142857 whereas Pi = 3.141592. Hence 22/7 > Pi.
Pi Day - An unofficial holiday held to celebrate Pi. Pi Day is observed on March 14 (3-14 or3/14). Actually its celebrated at 1:59 PM, thereby adding few more digits that would approach Pi. People even eat Pie, drink Pina Colada, eat Pineapple and/or watch the movie Pi.
Pi Approximation Day - Celebrated on July 22 (7-22 or 7/22)
Feynman Point - It is the 762nd through 767th decimal places of Pi and consists of the digit 9 repeated six times. Talking about Feynman you guys should read "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman"
The first occurence of the sequence 0123456789 is found in the decimal expansion of Pi starting at 17,387,594,880thdigit. Holy Crap !!
The world record for the number of decimal places - expansion of Pi stands at > One Trillion; performed by two Japanese scientists and took only about 600 hours !!! A short expansion can be found here.
Okay now why and where did I get this crazy idea to talk about Pi? Well, this sounds funny but I got hold of the book "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel y'day. Really funny book, well written and a must read. The funny part, to start of with, is that the main character's name is Pi Patel. Lol I just couldnt stop myself today while reading the initial few pages.
I wont reveal much but just imagine - he was named after a Swimming Pool !!!!
Archived in: Books English Pi Patel Feynman Amazon
Posted by Rajesh @ 8:34 PM; PERMALINK,
3 Shouts:
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At July 31, 2006 1:14 AM,
ammu said...
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that was some neat trivia! :)
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At August 04, 2006 12:15 PM,
Anu Russell said...
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hey that was cool...i knew that there was more to PI but this was nicely put...and i have read the surely you are joking...precis...which came in redears digest!!! it was super fun!
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At August 05, 2006 1:07 AM,
Rajesh said...
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@ Amrita - hmmm from Pi to Pi Patel. Some of them I've never heard of - like the Pi Day n all :D
@ Anu - Yeah thought of jotting down some info that we are not aware of. "Surely ....Feynman" in Readers digest? He's a funny guy though and brainy indeed ;)
