Happy Pi Day!

Did you know today is Pi Day? Yes, the 3.14…. has a day all too itself. Why today? It’s the 14^th day of the 3^rd month, which I suspect hangs together better for our US cousins, but there you are. It also happens to be Albert Einstein’s birthday, so quite the coincidence!

Pi Day was founded in 1988 by a physicist name Larry Shaw and has been celebrated ever since, although isn’t widely known outside of maths and physics circles.

So, what is Pi?

Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. The diameter of a circle is the distance from edge to edge when measuring across the middle, while the circumference is the distance around the circle. Hopefully, this is all coming back to you?!

It has always been determined that a circle is a bit more than 3 times its width around, and the number we use is 3.14. And because Pi is a constant number, it will always be the same for any circle of any size. Isn’t maths great?!

While most people can recite Pi to around 4 or 5 digits beyond the decimal point (3.14159), it’s been calculated to over a trillion digits and is considered infinite! A young student of mine is able to remember 25, which I think is quite a feat in itself!

While many will be celebrating Pi Day and challenging one another to memory duels, it’s just a bit of fun. Although it’s also a great way to help reinforce some learning of a great tool come exam time.

Questions requiring a working knowledge of Pi almost always come up, so why not take part in a little fun and work it into exam revision this year?

You can even get your own piece of Pi, so to speak. Such is the vast range of figures, that you’re almost certain to be able to find your own birthday in there somewhere. You can give it a try here: http://mypiday.com/

If you’ve found a few gaps in knowledge and would like to ensure you’re ready for the forthcoming exams, do feel free to contact me on 0207 686 4307. I have several exam preparation slots available and they are being booked up quickly, so please don’t delay if you’re considering extra tuition.

Muhammad