MIT Admissions | Blog Entry: "<IMG src="http://web.mit.edu/barkowit/www/pi.jpg"> Day"

Daniel Barkowitz | March 14, 2008

" Day"

Happy Day to all! (Usually MIT's home page has a visual description of ! We'll see if it is updated later today! UPDATE! Better yet, this is the featured link for Day from the home page!). And the MIT Undergraduate Math Association is having a day celebration today at 5:00 in Room 2-102.

In past years, I haven't seen anyone wandering down the hall dressed as a (or any other reasonable facsimile), but that is not to say that won't be served at lunch, or that I might not be hit later in the face with a . OK, OK, enough humor; I need to stop before I have to eat humble .

Day is actually a serious celebration at MIT (OK, well maybe not, but it should be).

We even rank an entry on Wikipedia's entry about Day explaining that we often mail admissions decisions on Day. Well, not this year!.

Now, let's build an ongoing comment chain to this post with each person adding a digit to from memory! See how long we can make it!! I doubt we can make it to Daniel Tammett's level, but who really needs to know 22,514 decimals of ? (Of course, you could always cheat and find 1,000,000 digits of by going here.)

While you are playing with today, I will still be running letters to drop in your packets (that's why I'm still up at this hour -- pulling a financial aid "all nighter" to get them ready). While we're busy stuffing packets, maybe I'll have some background music playing -- perhaps by Kate Bush.

Or maybe we'll just spend the day watching this Zoom parody:

Of course, if you'd rather you could watch this bit about e, and i. If you get the humor, I guess you're in the right place...

Final update:

After bringing in apple , strawberry rhubarb , and cherry for staff in SFS today for breakfast, and having pizza for lunch, we are finishing the night at home with a gluten-free cherry for my wheat-allergic kids. What a day! Thanks for all of the fun today!

The author has filed this entry in the "Work/Play Balance At MIT" section; check it out for further reading on this topic.

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3.14

Posted by: Daniel Barkowitz on March 14, 2008 12:07 AM

3.141

Posted by: Jessica G. on March 14, 2008 12:08 AM

3.1415

Posted by: Jackson on March 14, 2008 12:09 AM

3.14159

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 12:10 AM

3.14159

Posted by: Hopeful on March 14, 2008 12:11 AM

3.141592

Posted by: John U. on March 14, 2008 12:13 AM

3.1415926

Posted by: Evedizzy on March 14, 2008 12:17 AM

3.1415926

Posted by: Z on March 14, 2008 12:17 AM

3.14159265

Posted by: Michael O'Keefe on March 14, 2008 12:19 AM

3.14159265

wishes everyone

Posted by: Jayanto on March 14, 2008 12:21 AM

3.141592653

Posted by: Ana2 on March 14, 2008 12:23 AM

3.141592653

Posted by: matt on March 14, 2008 12:23 AM

3.1415926535

Posted by: yukiko on March 14, 2008 12:25 AM

3.141592657

Posted by: Disha on March 14, 2008 12:25 AM

3.14159265358

Posted by: Rebecca on March 14, 2008 12:26 AM

3.141592653587

Posted by: Disha on March 14, 2008 12:28 AM

3.1415926535897

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 12:29 AM

3.14159265358979

Happy π day!

Posted by: Tanmay on March 14, 2008 12:35 AM

3.141592653589793

Posted by: … on March 14, 2008 12:38 AM

3.1415926535897932

Posted by: Zoe on March 14, 2008 12:39 AM

3.141592653589793238462643383279502884

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 12:40 AM

3.14159265358979323

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 12:40 AM

3.141592653589793

Happy π day!

Posted by: Nihar on March 14, 2008 12:42 AM

OUCH...XD
Go πs~

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 12:48 AM

I would like to be responsible for the first comment not to start by quoting pi.

Two pi days ago, I memorized first fifty digits, but by memory has slipped a bit since then.

Last year we celebrated in my calculus class with three and a little pies that my girlfriend made.. unfortunately I have no math class today :-(

anyway.. peace and π to all
~Donald

Posted by: donaldGuy '12 on March 14, 2008 12:50 AM

3.1415926535897932

Posted by: Jorge on March 14, 2008 12:50 AM

Posted by: sorry guys :) on March 14, 2008 12:54 AM

3.14159265358979323

Posted by: Ben on March 14, 2008 12:59 AM

I made an apple pi! you can check my blog tomorrow to see it

Posted by: Chris on March 14, 2008 12:59 AM

hehe dguy, i have 130 digits, start memorizing so we can have a faceoff at cpw :D

Posted by: Rachel'12 on March 14, 2008 01:03 AM

yay!
3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899... or something, haha, I did this a while ago because it was on the wall in math class...

Posted by: Jarey on March 14, 2008 01:13 AM

oops, um, get rid of those. 3.14159265358979323

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 01:26 AM

3.141592653589793helpimtrappedinauniversefactory7108914...

Someone had to do it xD

Posted by: bunny on March 14, 2008 01:55 AM

now someone try π^2 ;D

Posted by: Kevin Xu on March 14, 2008 02:06 AM

Wow, I've gotten into some bad calculus...

Posted by: Paul on March 14, 2008 02:09 AM

By the way, I'm planning going to the "Pi Day" event Daniel mentioned, so be on the lookout for an entry about the festivities either late Friday or (gasp) after decisions are released!

Posted by: Paul on March 14, 2008 02:11 AM

3.141592653589793238

happy pi day everyone! let's hope tomorrow will be happy too.

Posted by: Ana on March 14, 2008 02:17 AM

i'm going to make a pumpkin pie tomorrow!

Posted by: yukiko on March 14, 2008 02:44 AM

Pi Day is halfway through in India :D Happy Pi Day to all you guys out there!!!!!!!

Posted by: Shruthi on March 14, 2008 03:38 AM

My school has this pi day thing for kids where they are going to do cool science experiments and eat pie. Yea...we are good with our community haha :-)

Posted by: OmarA on March 14, 2008 04:53 AM

>3.14

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 06:02 AM

I found this holiday irrational. Why use base 10 to express pi in only 3 significant digits?
I am still the person with the fastest pi calculator in PHP...
http://mgccl.com/2007/02/02/new-version-of-pi-calculator-break-the-speed-bound
some one beat me on that today please :)

Posted by: Mgccl on March 14, 2008 06:02 AM

Thanks! Today I'll be celebrating with a nice "Pi Day Puzzle Party" with my school's Number Theory and Puzzling Club :) I'm bringing blueberry and chocolate chip to the table.

Posted by: Julie on March 14, 2008 06:49 AM

pi are squared

Posted by: anon on March 14, 2008 07:22 AM

No their not. They are round.

Posted by: anon' on March 14, 2008 07:22 AM

3.1415926535897732
I remembered pi by a Chinese poem,
the general idea of the poem is
I'm having wine on the hill, happy.

Wish everyone happy on pi day,
(but don't have alcohol =P)

Good luck on pi+0.01 day!

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 07:57 AM

Sorry,
it's 3.1415926535897932

I should have checked.

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 07:58 AM

Apple pi(e) is tastier!

Posted by: Roshini on March 14, 2008 08:09 AM

somebody explain one thing to me... HOw is the value of pi calculated ??

Posted by: Soaham on March 14, 2008 08:13 AM

A simple one is...

sum(1,inf) (-1)^(n-1)*4/(2n-1)

But it takes a while to converge, I think.

Posted by: JohnJimJoeBob on March 14, 2008 09:52 AM

I made lemon meringue last night to celebrate with my calc class.

Posted by: zach on March 14, 2008 10:36 AM

pi for all!

Posted by: Collin on March 14, 2008 10:50 AM

haha pi day is my birthday...

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 11:03 AM

I´m from Ecuador and I have never heard of this day but happy pi day! it looks really fun! :)

Posted by: btty on March 14, 2008 11:03 AM

can we just keep it simple? 3.14. sorry, I'm a business brain not a math/science genius......love the videos. keep it up!!
p.s. the ides of march soooo beats pi day for decisions......

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 11:18 AM

can we just keep it simple? 3.14. sorry, I'm a business brain not a math/science genius......love the videos. keep it up!!
p.s. the ides of march soooo beats pi day for decisions......
yes I did manage to forget to put my name in.....again.......

Posted by: Kamya on March 14, 2008 11:19 AM

3.14159265358979323

Posted by: Granton on March 14, 2008 11:34 AM

Haha...I love how you went out of your way to use the pi image as much as possible.

Awesome.

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693
99375105820974944592307816406286208998628034
82534211706798214808651...

Posted by: Matt, PSU '11 on March 14, 2008 11:42 AM

So instead of releasing admissions decisions on pi day... you are releasing them on the Ides of March... *heart plummets*

Posted by: enewts on March 14, 2008 11:50 AM

An alternative (and in my opinion, much cooler) way of calculating π (though admittedly, converging much much slower than the series method) is based on the fact that the ratio of the area of the unit circle to its inscribing square is π/4. By randomly generating points on the unit square and finding the ratio of generated points that land in the circle, you can find π/4 (very, very slowly :)).

Posted by: bunny on March 14, 2008 12:09 PM

the exact value pi is: $\pi = \frac{\ln(-1)}{i}$

=ln(-1)/i

Posted by: han on March 14, 2008 12:36 PM

I put 100 digits of pi on my cell phone as an entry in my contacts list, so that I can always have it handy anywhere

Posted by: Zev Chonoles on March 14, 2008 12:58 PM

22/7

I win

Posted by: James on March 14, 2008 01:53 PM

e^(iπ) = -1 ^_^_^_^_^

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 02:05 PM

from 1 Kings 7:23--
pi=3

I hope you all don't take this literally.

Then again, it only has 1 sig fig, so I guess you can't argue that it is wrong.

I really hope this doesn't start a flamewar.

Anyway, e is still so much better than pi.

I hope this one ^^^ DOES start a flamewar.

Posted by: duketipquantumelephants on March 14, 2008 02:09 PM

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993
75105820974944592307816406286208998628034825342
11706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172
53594081284811174502841027019385211055596446229
48954930381964428810975665933446128475648233786
78316527120190914564856692346034861045432664821
33936072602491412737245870066063155881748815209
20962829254091715364367892590360011330530548820
46652138414695194151160943305727036575959195309
21861173819326117931051185480744623799627495673
51885752724891227938183011949129833673362440656
64308602139494639522473719070217986094370277053
92171762931767523846748184676694051320005681271
45263560827785771342757789609173637178721468440
90122495343014654958537105079227968925892354201
99561121290219608640344181598136297747713099605
18707211349999998372978049951059731732816096318
59502445945534690830264252230825334468503526193
11881710100031378387528865875332083814206171776
69147303598253490428755468731159562863882353787
59375195778185778053217122680661300192787661119
59092164201989

Posted by: Pi on March 14, 2008 03:21 PM

3.1415926536
I just watched the pi dating movie, and now my mom is staring at me wondering why I'm laughing so loud.

Posted by: Someone embarassed by a lack of pi knowledge on March 14, 2008 03:50 PM

Posted by: unknown on March 14, 2008 03:53 PM

I may not know an unreasonable number of digits of pi (=P), but I do enjoy pi day!

We had key lime pie and mango key lime pi...in economics and biology. My stat teacher didn't think that pie went well with tests.

Posted by: Rachel on March 14, 2008 04:14 PM

I don't know digits of pi much beyond say, 5, but pi day is always lovingly celebrated at my school with far too many pies being sold by the calc classes and eaten by all those pie lovers. It's fun.

Posted by: Becca on March 14, 2008 04:21 PM

Happy birthday Albert Einstein. Born March 14, 1879.
Is Pi day in honor of Einstein?
I wish you all happy news at noon tomorrow.

Posted by: MITMom on March 14, 2008 06:16 PM

HAPPY PI DAY!

In an effort to distract myself from the stress of waiting for decisions, I spent the last week memorizing pi to 102 digits. Despite its uselessness, I actually found it quite enjoyable,

From memory:
Pi=3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419
716939937510582097494459230781640628620899
8628034825342117067982

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 06:57 PM

Haha, the second one was amazing. I love me some irrational numbers.

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 07:06 PM

3.14159 > 2.71828.

I have just proven, mathematically, that π is greater than e.

Posted by: José P. on March 14, 2008 07:45 PM

1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510
5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679
8214808651 3282306647 0938446095 5058223172 5359408128
4811174502 8410270193 8521105559 6446229489 5493038196
4428810975 6659334461 2847564823 3786783165 2712019091
4564856692 3460348610 4543266482 1339360726 0249141273
7245870066 0631558817 4881520920 9628292540 9171536436
7892590360 0113305305 4882046652 1384146951 9415116094
3305727036 5759591953 0921861173 8193261179 3105118548
0744623799 6274956735 1885752724 8912279381 8301194912
9833673362 4406566430 8602139494 6395224737 1907021798
6094370277 0539217176 2931767523 8467481846 7669405132
0005681271 4526356082 7785771342 7577896091 7363717872
1468440901 2249534301 4654958537 1050792279 6892589235
4201995611 2129021960 8640344181 5981362977 4771309960
5187072113 4999999837 2978049951 0597317328 1609631859
5024459455 3469083026 4252230825 3344685035 2619311881
7101000313 7838752886 5875332083 8142061717 7669147303
5982534904 2875546873 1159562863 8823537875 9375195778
1857780532 1712268066 1300192787 6611195909 2164201989

3809525720 1065485863 2788659361 5338182796 8230301952
0353018529 6899577362 2599413891 2497217752 8347913151
5574857242 4541506959 5082953311 6861727855 8890750983
8175463746 4939319255 0604009277 0167113900 9848824012
8583616035 6370766010 4710181942 9555961989 4676783744
9448255379 7747268471 0404753464 6208046684 2590694912
9331367702 8989152104 7521620569 6602405803 8150193511
2533824300 3558764024 7496473263 9141992726 0426992279
6782354781 6360093417 2164121992 4586315030 2861829745
5570674983 8505494588 5869269956 9092721079 7509302955
3211653449 8720275596 0236480665 4991198818 3479775356
6369807426 5425278625 5181841757 4672890977 7727938000
8164706001 6145249192 1732172147 7235014144 1973568548
1613611573 5255213347 5741849468 4385233239 0739414333
4547762416 8625189835 6948556209 9219222184 2725502542
5688767179 0494601653 4668049886 2723279178 6085784383
8279679766 8145410095 3883786360 9506800642 2512520511
7392984896 0841284886 2694560424 1965285022 2106611863
0674427862 2039194945 0471237137 8696095636 4371917287
4677646575 7396241389 0865832645 9958133904 7802759009

Posted by: Kelly on March 14, 2008 08:04 PM

Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2008 09:58 PM

I think the comment lag (plus some super-duper fun-suckers) made this comment chain die...

Posted by: Leanna on March 14, 2008 10:31 PM

It is nice to know that at least you remember pi day. Note: Nobody congratulated me on pi day :( I guess I'll cross my fingers and wait until 22/7

Posted by: John Parker on March 14, 2008 11:57 PM

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993
75105820974944592307816406286208998628034821342
11706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172
53594081284811174502841027019385211055596446229
4895493038196 Yeah! 200 digits of pi!

Posted by: Kaitlyn on March 15, 2008 12:10 AM

On an off note... decisions are released TODAY!

Oh yeah, and... 3.1415926535. That's all I know, kinda sad

Posted by: Scott on March 15, 2008 01:29 AM

Posted by: duketipquantumelephants on March 15, 2008 01:30 AM

My daughter jackie was born on pi day.

Pi to one MILLION decimal places

Posted by: jack r, gaydar, p.s., p.e. on March 15, 2008 06:09 AM

happy pi day!
^_^ i like the ides of march though!
i luv MIT!

Posted by: ann o. nimus on March 15, 2008 01:50 PM

We usually bring french silk, apple, and cherry pie to my calc class every year during pie day..i was sick..missed it :(

Posted by: Mahima on March 15, 2008 06:55 PM

oh. I really go to MIT for NASA.

Posted by: Terry on March 17, 2008 01:19 AM

I'm Korean but i live in China..T.T
please teach me how to speak English well...
I got three "F"s in last term..

Posted by: Terry on March 17, 2008 01:20 AM

I'm Korean but i live in China..T.T
please teach me how to speak English well...
I got three "F"s in the last term..

Posted by: Terry on March 17, 2008 01:21 AM

I'm Korean and I live in korea and I wanna get in mit so if anyone can give me some advice i'm all ears
btw 3.1415926535897

Posted by: ingab on March 29, 2008 02:52 AM

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