The Art of remembering Pi
The irrational number Pi has kept mathematicians busy and in some kind of trance for the last centuries. March 14 is international Pi day and the challenge is to remember as many decimals as possible. Remembering a number that never seems to end is quite a task, but easier said than done. The question soon arises how in the world you start with memorizing something that is equal to impossible.
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The Number Pi
Photo Credit: Ozy
To be able to remember Pi, you have to have a list of quite some decimals. When you see a list of decimals behind the comma like the one found on Wikipedia you are immediately overwhelmed. A list of only 1120 decimals is for the most of us really: mission impossible.
3.1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 69399375105820974944 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
It is important not to try the impossible, so start with a simple sequence and proceed later with more decimals.
Tips and Tricks
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*1 Try to use trainers
It is not exactly cheating but there are ways to get some help. You would be surprised how many websites and advice you can find on the internet about Pi.
Look at PiTrainer and cow-pi.com to name just a few. With those Pi-trainers, you can train yourself to memorize Pi.
*2 Use your hands!
This might sound quite ridiculous but it definitely helps. Try to memorize Pi as a song, pay attention to the rhythm and tap it with your fingers.
*3 Dividing into groups
Memorize by learning into groups, try to work with 2, 4, 6, 7 or 10 decimals at a time. This is supposed to be most effective. Personally, I like to memorize in groups of four decimals at a time.
If you lose track of the numbers and you are stuck, you can easily know that it is the decimals after “x”. It can be very useful to have beacons to pick up where you left off.
*4 Keep practicing and never give up.
Remembering 100 decimals may seem a great achievement, but if you put your mind to it, you can do so much better. The trick is to keep practicing, do not get discouraged and never, I mean never, give up.
*5 Pi in words
Pi is, of course, a mathematical number, but you can recite Pi in words. Here is a textbook example:
Now I will a rhyme construct,
By chosen words, the young instruct.
Cunningly devised endeavor,
Con it and remember ever.
Widths in circle here you see,
Sketched out in strange obscurity.
Count the letters of each word: “Now” is 3. “I” is one. “will” is 4. “a” is 1. “rhyme” is 5. “construct” is 9. Put all the decimals together and you get 3.14159!
Another fine example:
Yes, I like a flute. Classical is lovely music. The music revolves immensely through knowledge.
How I like a drink alcoholic of course after all these chapters involving Quantum Mechanics
Can I tell a story regarding my family lives and views?
Trivia
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- Albert Einstein was born in Germany on Pi-Day (°03/14/1879)
- In 1995, The Japanese Hiroyuki Goto could recite 42.000 decimals of Pi. He is still the Pi-world champion. [1]
- The Pi sequence appears a lot in plots of Hollywood movies as a secret code.
- In 2002, the most advanced computer calculated 1.24 trillion decimals. Given enough time, current CPU's can calculate Pi indefinitely.
- The Pi sequence was mentioned in an episode of Star Trek the Original Series, Mr.Spock ordered a computer to calculate the last decimal. [2]
- In the Greek alphabet, π is the sixteenth letter. In the English alphabet, p is also the sixteenth letter.
In conclusion, a nice British limerick:
It's a favourite hobby of mine
a new value for pi to assign
I would fix it at three
because it's easier, you see
than three point one four one five nine
Can you memorize Pi?
Photo Credit: Virtual Chaos
References:
I have never seen the pi number so complicated. Thank you for the information. Greetings. I upvoted and follow you
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