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| Image: http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/pi-basket |
March 14, 2015 will be a date of celebration for many "math nerds" around the country. Whether you celebrate the date, or think it's a little too silly, it's fun to see all of the creativity that pours out of mathematicians, designers, writers, and artists alike as "Pi Day" approaches each year. This year's date is even more momentous than usual- at 9:26:53 AM and PM, the date and time will represent the first 10 digits of pi. 3.141592653... If you count your milliseconds and beyond, to each infinitessimally small fraction of a second, the date and time will represent the infinite digits of pi between 9:26:53 and 9:26:54.
So why not celebrate the day with a party? It can easily be put together with a pizza pie and dessert pie. But what about adding a bottle opener in the shape of the Greek letter? What about a banner stringing the ubiquitous digits across the wall? We loved this blog post by UncommonGoods. Here they detail how to throw a proper Pi Day party.
To make throwing your party a little simpler, UncommonGoods is giving away this product, their Pi Basket, to one lucky Center of Math reader. This company, headquarted in Brooklyn, is a privately-owned retailer that endeavors to feature unique designsand handcrafted gifts created without harm to the environment, animals, or people. Their mission is to support and provide a platform for the artists and designers of their products, and to use their business to impact the world in a positive way. Right on the UncommonGoods website, visitors can submit their own product designs, view the company's non-profit partners, and digitally tour the creative studio.
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| image: commons.wikimedia.org |
We explored the Pi products that UncommonGoods has to offer (see them all by clicking here). Tori's favorite was definitely the "i eight sum pi" plate set! You could pair the pi plates with some "pumpkin pi..." And Zach really likes the bowl and basket. The basket, the prize of our giveaway, looks elegant enough to stay on a countertop year-round. It will be a conversation starter every day, instead of just March 14th.
Sign up for the UncommonGoods email newsletter by clicking here and like their Facebook page to support their company.
To enter the contest, please leave a comment on the blog page below and share this blog post on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+. Let us know in the comment if you have any plans for Pi Day, or if you have any other ideas for a Pi celebration! The winning comment on the blog will be chosen by a random number generator, and the contest will conclude at 11:00 AM EST on Friday 3/12/2015. UPDATE: Contest has concluded. Thanks for participating!
Pi,
ReplyDeleteThe Signature
Of
The Artist
By: Ashley Keller
What if I showed you Pi AND the other side of the coin? What would that do or mean to you? Would it solve a problem, answer a question, neither, both? If you could see all three sides of the coin, would you be able to see into the 4th dimension? It’s only with a hard right angle that you can see into another dimension. What if I could show you a shape that you've never seen before, but somehow it’s before you every day? Would it matter at all to you? At the same time, how could it not?
Pi is the ratio between the circumference and diameter of a circle. According to www.exploratiorium.edu, Pi was first calculated by the great mathematical genius, Archimedes of Syracuse (287-212BC) when figuring the area of a circle. Pi was the area that remained and could not be accounted for. It is the never-ending number and a mathematical problem that can’t be solved. Experts say that it has been calculated by computers millions and millions of times without repletion or ending. I say, consider this: If Pi is a number that never ends, how can you add to it? If it never ends, how can you subtract from it? If it never ends, how can you even divide it by itself or one? Try to do all of those things to Pi, considering the fact that it never ends to begin with.
3.141592653589793238462643383279502…
It must stop before any of those functions can be performed. And you can stop it. But only by dividing it by three. And it will end three digits to the right of the decimal. Let me show you. Get a piece of paper and do this long division. The first eleven digits of Pi are (you won’t need all of them):
3.1415926535 divided by three. Three goes into three, one time. 3-3=0. Bring down the one. 01 – 0 =1. Bring down the four. Three goes into fourteen four times. 14 – 12 = 2. Bring down the one. Three goes into twenty-one, seven times. 3 x 7 = 21. BOOM!!!! From there, all basic mathematical operations are possible.
As far as circles are concerned,
Pi is the third side of the coin (circle). Let me show you. Get a coin and hold it in your fingers. Close your eyes and gently rub all sides of the coin counting as you go. Do this a few times. Then open your eyes, look at it, and do the same. How many sides do you count? See, Pi is the third side of the coin. I bet you’ve always been told that a circle only has two sides! Just because you don’t always see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Consider the Pyramids from a bird’s eye view. You now see the four sides of a triangle. And to walk a “round” one of the Pyramids, you have to walk a square. It’s perception. A shape must be enclosed, and without a third side, enclosure can’t happen. Anything that might be inside the circle (air) would continue endlessly into space without the enclosure of the third side. Without its banding, the circle would just be two rounds. It doesn’t matter how narrow, the banding is there. The missing banding of the circle is the value of Pi and the glue that binds two rounds together to make a complete circle.
But what’s probably most important about Pi is that
Pi is The Signature of The Artist. It has been said that within every man, woman, and child, lies the essence of God. The “Symbol” (Signature) Pi can be seen in our ribs, our brain, our heart, our blood vessels, muscles, tendons, etc. The Signature can be seen in all vegetation. In trees, it can be seen in and on their trunks, limbs, branches, leaves, fruits and roots (individually and collectively). It can even be seen within an enlargement of the smallest living microbe known to mankind. It appears that The Artist signs His work. We should really take this one seriously!
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ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/aktheartist63/status/573196530850664448
And I have no other plans for Pi Day other than to eat some pie!
cricketlady29@hotmail.com
I will probably make some delicious pie for pi day. littlesillysally at gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteshared on fb https://www.facebook.com/pbjellytime/posts/10152675326547337?pnref=story
DeleteSo sad pi day falls on a Saturday this year. Hard to celebrate in class when it's not the true day.
ReplyDeleteNo plans yet... ;)
ReplyDeleteRetweeted (@ab_hoernchen)
This is an Amazing give away. Can't wait to celebrate the pi day of the century!!
ReplyDeleteI'm celebrating by selling t-shirts for my school's math club.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!!! I Love PI DAY!
ReplyDeleteI bought a Pi Day shirt from Etsy seller GrammaticalArt!
ReplyDeleteI will wear my Pi shirt. Too bad we don't have school that day.
ReplyDeleteI had my students do Pi day tshirts designs. The winning t shirt design is worn by all students on pi day.
ReplyDeleteMyKids and I are planning to craft pi haikus (or, pi-ku), with syllable format of
ReplyDeleteFirst line: 3 syllables
Second line: 1 syllable
Third line: 4 syllables
My family is going the Science Museum Oklahoma. Afterward, we are going to grab a slice of pi at Pie Junkie, and then head home and explore pi, with my six year old, by measuring items around the house with yarn, and with the help of a ruler, demonstrate what pi is and how it is a constant.
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