Math enthusiasts from all over the world celebrate Pi, the mathematical constant written simply as 3.14 every March 14, but this year's Pi day is particularly special because 2015 stretches the symbolic data to 3.1415.
Pi, which describes the ratio of the circumference of the circle to its diameter and represents an infinite string of numbers, is 3.1415926535897932384626433832795 when written up to its 31 decimal places. This year's Pi day is a once-in-a-lifetime event because the particular sequence of the number 31415 in the calendar won't happen again until the next century.
The mathematical constant, which has been known for about four millennia, was frequently used by the early astronomers and is essential in construction and architecture. Scientists and engineers from NASA also often make use of Pi.
Marc Rayman, NASA's Dawn spacecraft mission director, for instance uses a formula that involves Pi to calculate how long it would take the Dawn spacecraft to orbit the dwarf planet Ceres at any given altitude.
"On Pi Day, I will think about the nature of a day, as Earth's rotation on its axis carries me on a circle 21,000 miles (34,000 kilometers) in circumference, which I calculated using pi and my latitude," Rayman said.
To celebrate the day, the education department of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has its second yearly Pi Day challenge, which features math problems crafted by NASA/JPL education specialists with help from scientists and engineers.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), on the other hand, celebrates the day befitting its reputation as an institution excelling in science, math and engineering. It announced that it will send the acceptance letter for the incoming class of the year on Pi day at exactly 9:26 a.m.
Astronomers at the California Academy of Sciences will join visitors in the dropping of Popsicle sticks, a mathematical game wherein the sticks are used to model Pi's mathematical formula. Astronomers at the Golden Gate Park academy will also conduct a lecture where they will explain how Pi is being used to calculate the volume of the planets that are outside the bounds of the solar system.
While scientists and math enthusiasts celebrate this year's Pi Day with their extraordinary fondness for Pi, ordinary folks including those who detest math can also make their day a little more extraordinary by honoring Pi Day the traditional way, making and eating a pie.
Photo: Robert Couse-Baker | Flickr
