Pi Day

March 14 is Pi Day, a sacred celebration in which radius and circumference lovers rejoice over circular snacks and decimal-reciting contests.
       
Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159.

Pi Snacks
We like to think outside the (pizza) box, so here are a few Pi Day food suggestions: apple pie, MoonPie, shepherd’s pie, pine nuts and pineapple.

Pi Humor
Q: What do you get when you take green cheese and divide its circumference by its diameter?
A: Moon Pi.

Cool math trick: Multiplying by 4
This trick is so simple and logical, it almost shouldn't be called a trick. But it could come in handy for your budding Sir Isaac Newton.  To multiply any number by 4, simply multiply it by 2 and then double the answer.
35 x 4
35 x 2 = 70
70 x 2 = 140
35 x 4 = 140

The underlying lesson of this "trick" is that you can solve a multiplication problem by multiplying by its factors.

 

 

 

Pi Day Playlist

Here are a few musical picks, in case you’re planning a Pi Day party:

“American Pie,” by Don McLean
“1+1,” by Beyonce
“The Math,” by Hilary Duff
“Pi,” by Kate Bush
“Einstein,” by Kelly Clarkson
“Honey Pie,” by the Beatles
“Algebra,” by Jason Derulo
“Black Math,” by the White Stripes
“Perfect Circle,” by R.E.M.

 

 

 

Record-breaking Pi

In 2011, a Japanese mathematician broke his own world record for determining the value of pi, calculating the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter to 10 trillion digits on a homemade computer, reports The Telegraph.

 

 

 

Literary Pi

In “Alex's Adventures in Numberland,” author Alex Bellos describes how pi has inspired a particularly tricky form of creative "constrained" writing called Pilish. These are poems – or "piems" – in which the number of letters of successive words is determined by pi, reports New Scientist.