GUJCOST and Science City celebrates one of math’s greatest numbers: Pi (π) day

Ahmedabad

Come Saturday, the 14th March 2015 at 9:27 am, students, teachers, scientists and mathematicians around the State and World will celebrate a one-in-100-year event in a special and somewhat bizarre manner.

International Pi Day, which honours one of the world’s most recognizable mathematical symbols, is traditionally celebrated on March 14 at 1.59 pm – a date and time that gives the first six digits of the number pi (3.14159) in the US date format.

This year, Pi Day falls on 3/14/15 – a sequence that won’t occur for another century.

Although some Pi enthusiasts will stick to the traditional time, many will kick off celebrations at 9.27 am, permitting them to indulge in a further two digits (3.1415927) of their beloved irrational number.

One can hit 10 digits when add the time to reach 3.141592653.

Pi, represented by the Greek letter π, is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. It is an irrational number, so its digits never end or repeat. Pi helped ancient Egypt build the pyramids and has aided in the discovery of the Higgs boson or “God particle”.

In order to honour the never-ending number 3.14159… and the birthday of Albert Einstein, Gujarat Science City and Gujarat Council on Science & Technology (GUJCOST) have organized a series hands-on activities and minds-on exposure, such as presentation, art and craft, parading in a circle and reciting as many digits of Pi as can be remembered to celebrate Pi day in the class room and community on Saturday from 9.00 am in the morning.

The programme aims to help students and teachers to understand everything Pi related projects and classroom activities. The concept of pi is important to mathematics because of its relationship to the circle; it is a constant representing the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Since pi is found in so many different equations in math, physics and other sciences, it is considered one of the most important mathematical constants.

Senior Scientist at Gujarat Science City Shri Narottam Sahu said, “no matter how big or small a circle is, if one calculate the distance around it, divided by the distance across it, then will get pi. It’s used in math, naturally, but also physics, engineering and even boosts the search for planets outside our solar system. In the film Life of Pi and novel by Yann Martel there are numerous references to the number’s universality, its continuity, its perfection — arriving at the same result, regardless of the circular object tested, allows religion, mathematics and the symbolic themes of the story to merge. Pi is irrational and it goes on forever, like so much in life. Let’s celebrate Pi Day to enjoy and explore with mathematics for a bright future!”

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