What is "Pi Day" about? Math, science, or pie?

[New Sancai Compilation and First Release] Mathematics enthusiasts around the world, from college students to rocket scientists, will celebrate "Pi Day" on March 14th - the first three digits of this infinite sequence with many practical uses.

Many people around the world mark the day with a piece of pie - sweet, savory, or even with a slice of pizza.

Simply put, Pi is a mathematical constant that represents the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. It's part of many formulas used in physics, astronomy, engineering, and other fields, dating back thousands of years to ancient Egypt, Babylon, and China.

Pi Day itself dates back to 1988, when American physicist Larry Shaw started celebrations at the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco. But it wasn’t until two decades later that the holiday gained true national recognition. In 2009, the U.S. Congress designated March 14 each year as an important day - hoping to stimulate more people's interest in mathematics and science. Coincidentally, this day is also the birthday of one of the world's greatest scientists, Albert Einstein.

Here's more about the holiday's origins and how to celebrate it.

Pi can calculate the circumference of a circle by measuring the diameter (the distance directly through the center of the circle) and multiplying it by the number 3.14.

It is considered a constant and is also infinite, which means it is mathematically irrational. Long before computers, historic scientists like Isaac Newton spent a lot of time calculating decimal places by hand. Now, researchers are using advanced computers to calculate pi in trillions of bits, but there's no end in sight.

It wasn't named until 1706, when the Welsh mathematician William Jones began using the Greek symbol π to represent the number.

Why the letter π? It is the first Greek letter in the words "periphery" and "perimeter." pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference (or circumference) to its diameter.

This number is key to accurately pointing the antenna at the satellite. It can help calculate everything from the size of large cylinders needed for oil refining equipment to the size of paper rolls used in printers.

Pi can also be used to determine the necessary size of water tanks serving heating and air conditioning systems in buildings of various sizes.

NASA uses π every day. It is critical for calculating orbits, the positions of planets and other celestial bodies, rocket propulsion elements, spacecraft communications, and even the correct deployment of parachutes when a vehicle lands on Earth or lands on Mars.

Scientists say that using only nine digits of pi, it can calculate the Earth's circumference very accurately, with an error of only about a quarter of an inch (0.6 centimeters) every 25,000 miles (about 40,000 kilometers).

Each year, the San Francisco museum that created the holiday organizes events, including a 3.14 parade around a circular plaque called the "Shrine of Pi" - and, of course, plenty of pie festivities.

Across the United States, many events are now held on college campuses. For example, Nova Southeastern University in Florida, USA, will host a series of events, including a game called "Psych Math Bingo" and free pizza (pie) and the obligatory dessert pie event.

Stephen Jarrett, manager of Michele's Pies in Norwalk, Connecticut, said it's one of their most important days of the year.

“We had hundreds of pie orders on (Pi Day) from companies, schools and individuals,” Jarrett said in an interview. “Pi Day is a really fun, silly holiday because it’s a math day. Numbers, people like to turn them into something fun and delicious. So people celebrate Pi Day with sweet pies, savory pies, and it’s just an excuse to have a little treat."

NASA holds its annual "Pi Day Challenge" online, providing people with a large number of games and puzzles, some of which come directly from NASA's own game manuals, such as calculating the orbit of an asteroid or the daily travel distance of a lunar rover. distance in order to survey an area of the moon.

Einstein, perhaps the most famous scientist in the world, was born in Germany on March 14, 1879. Many of his groundbreaking theories used an infinite number of pi, and now Pi Day gives the world another reason to celebrate his achievements.

Mathematically, the famous British physicist Stephen Hawking died on March 14, 2018 at the age of 76. Still, Pi is not a perfect number. He once said: "One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection simply does not exist. Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist."

(Compiled by: Wang Jimin)
(Editor: Jiang Qiming)
(Source of the article: Compiled and published by New Sancai)