How many decimals of Pi do you remember?

[pi-70679]

How many decimals of Pi do you people remember by heart. I started learning them not so long ago and so far i got:
3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510
58209 74944 59230 78164 06286 20899 86280 34825 34211 70679
82148 08651 32823 06647 09384 46095 50582 23172 53594 08128
which is exactly 150 (without cheating). I try to learn 5-10 more each day.

[zk4586]

2 decimals. 3.14. Not that memorizing pie out to all those decimal places is pointless, but...well, yeah, it's pointless.

[pi-70679]

I gotta admit, it's probably one of the less useful things i ever did in my life, but heh, i had to come up with something to do in non-physics or math classes...

[Andy]

Oh my god! why? if you ever need to use pie why dont you just use the pie button on your calculator, far simplar.

[climbhi]

Dude, andy, pi buttons on calculators don't go to 150 digits...

[BoulderHead]

I'm with zk4586 on this one. I think once I may have known it to five digits but that was long ago.

[pi-70679]

I just find that learning pi is a good way to maintain your memory active, plus it's a really good time waster. I found out that now i can remember series of numbers in a lot less time. I just use birthdates, repeating numbers, and my latest, pattern you do with your fingers when you type the keys on the numpad.

[Bunting]

i took the liberty of stealing the text file of 100 000 dp of pi and pasted it all over my own website :P

http://www.sweeto.co.uk/Stuff/Pi.php?page=Pi

personally i can only rememeber 3.141592653 :P

[BoulderHead]

Originally posted by pi-70679
I just find that learning pi is a good way to maintain your memory active, plus it's a really good time waster. Yes, it sounds pretty sweet and you have certainly memorized an impressive string of digits too. How about something for the coordination of the body such as juggling? If you are standing around almost anywhere with time on your hands you can usually find a few rocks and have at it…

[pi-70679]

as nice as this sounds, i doubt my teachers would appreciate.

[climbhi]

Originally posted by pi-70679
as nice as this sounds, i doubt my teachers would appreciate.
they probably don't appreciate you memorizing pi in their class either so why not go the full distance and start juggling. In fact why don't you start out with chainsaws or flaming torches for that matter, I'm sure the teachers will love that, it would probably bring a lot of intelectual input to the class...

[pi-70679]

Just so you know, i practice shooting for hand eye coordination. Sniping (although it has a bad reputation), is the best exercise i know to learn how to totally control how your muscles react and is quite good for coordination of body-eye coordination. I've been introduced to that sport by a friend in the army, and i just love it.

[Artman]

What's Pi? [:)] I usually just round up at 3.142.


Originally posted by pi-70679...
Sniping (although it has a bad reputation), is the best exercise i know to learn how to totally control how your muscles react and is quite good for coordination of body-eye coordination.

When you put this statement together with your memorizing Pi to 150 decimal places, we can only hope that you live in a trailer because they don't have basements to hide victims bodies. Just kidding, (I hope) [6)]

[Alex00]

If caculators don't go up to 150 digits then you can't use 150 digits of PI when using a caculator and you would need a caculator to work out the result of any sum involving pi at 150 digits

[pi-70679]

Artman: True [:)] it may seem weird when you read those statements one after the other. If only considering those two statements, i would in fact seem like a complete maniac... Which i can reassure you i am not: i use an air rifle, which means that i have no clue about how to handle a rifle with recoil and i am thus completely harmless. lol, i'll be more careful next time and try to express myself clearer so i don't look like a psycho.

Alex00: I never use that many decimal places for calculations, if you know about significant figures then you know it would be completely useless anyways. It's just for the fun of it. [:D]

[Alex00]

fun, in maths?

[Andy]

So very very sad, how can you have fun in a maths lesson the only reason its like at my college is because the maths teacher is very sexy and all the blokes want to give her one but thats a different topic all together, the only good thing about maths is its very useful whilst studying physics, at least alex00 agress with me.

[enigma]

3.1415926

How many do I use if I'm not using a calculator?

3

If I'm reeeeallly picky, I just round up the answer a bit to deal with the .14.

Otherwise, it's kinda pointless to do it in your head, so why bother memorizing?

[spacemanspiff]

3.1415926

that's all i got. but that's without actually trying to memorize it. it may not be 150 decimal places, but most people look at me funny when i reel it off, and that's good enough for me[:D]

[LURCH]

I memorised it to 14 digits as a child. Based on a famous quotation by Albert Einstein: "How I need a drink. Alcoholic, of course, after the heavy chapters involving quantum mechanics." The number of letters in each word successively correspond to the digits in Pi.

I find it useful as a sort of "mantra", it helps me calm myself down when getting overly emotional. Maybe such numerical recitation would be useful in any activity requiring calm nerves and an even mind. Sniping, perhaps?

[kyle_soule]

I remember the exact number for π ------> it's right under the space button on my HP48GX[;)]

[Artman]

Originally posted by pi-70679...
...If only considering those two statements, i would in fact seem like a complete maniac... Which i can reassure you i am not


That's a relief.

By the way, I think it's amazing that you have Pi memorized to 150 places. I consider myself lucky to be able to memorize my own phone number.[6)]

[pimaster]

so far i am in 2nd place....im a bit of a geek and i have memorized 32 place

3.14159265358979323846264338237950

just started today cause i was bored lol...trying to get to 50 by 2morrow

[mathwonk]

i know 5 places. 3.1416, (rounded).

[Ivan Seeking]

Which value of pi did you want?

The bill House Bill No. 246, Indiana State Legislature, 1897, reportedly set the value of pi to an incorrect rational approximation.

...The bill implies four different values for pi and one for sqrt(2), as follows: pi' = 16/sqrt(3), 2 sqrt(5 pi/6), 16 sqrt(2)/7, 16/5 ( 9.24 , 3.236 , 3.232 , 3.2 respectively.) sqrt(2)' = 10/7. http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~alopez-o/math-faq/mathtext/node18.html

[moe darklight]

There's more after 3?????

[Mk]

In 8th grade my teacher had a poster with Pi on it on the backwall. One day I decided to try and memorize the entire list of numbers, but I only got to 3.14159 and never tried it another class period. For some reason that went into long term memory.

[loseyourname]

Another four-year old thread? Do these frequently show up on Google when people seach for strings like "pi digits memorize?"

[dontdisturbmycircles]

Yea sometimes if I do a search for some math/physics related subject I get pointed to a really old PF thread. Sometimes the thread is so interesting that I would like to reply to it, but its pointless. Its too bad that most people don't look at the dates on threads found on google before replying :-(.

ps - 3.14159

[moe darklight]

I never really bothered past 3.14; it's accurate enough for my needs.

Another four-year old thread? Do these frequently show up on Google when people seach for strings like "pi digits memorize?"

Just for that, I shall return to this very thread on May 22, 2011 and reply. ... and don't think I'm joking. :devil: muahahaha *evil*

... seriously, I'm not joking. you'd be amazed at the trivialities with which I fill my procrastination-filled days. In fact, I'm supposed to be doing something as we speak! :devil: :devil: muahahahaha! *pure evil*

[Astronuc]

The Joy of Pi (http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Pi-David-Blatner/dp/0802775624/ref=pd_bbs_sr_7/002-4659104-5512056?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179829988&sr=8-7) includes one million digits of pi :biggrin:

But in case you need just a few, here are the first ten thousand digits: - http://www.joyofpi.com/pi.html -

and you're in good company - http://www.joyofpi.com/pilinks.html


I had a friend in high school who memorized \sqrt{2} to 200+ decimal places, because e and pi were to mundane. He used to come up to me at my locker and start reciting. :rofl: We still keep in contact after 35 years.

e: The Story of a Number (http://www.amazon.com/e-Story-Number-Eli-Maor/dp/0691058547/ref=pd_sim_b_1/002-4659104-5512056?ie=UTF8&qid=1179829988&sr=8-7)

[J77]

I'm another 2 person -- there's too much other things to be doing to go any further :tongue:

[Jimmy Snyder]

I have remembered so many digits of pi that I can't recall the exact count.

[Kurdt]

I can remember all the digits but not necessarily in the correct order.

[pimaster]

since my ast post i have memorized more digits, the last time i posted i told you i can remember up to 32 digits. I can now receit the first 50.

3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375 10

[mattmns]

I had a math teacher that said in grad school he memorized digits of pi to compete with one of his friends. Personally I know 3.14159

[pimaster]

who wants to make a wager.....the bet will be " who can memorize the first 100 decimals of pi before the other person" lol

[siddharth]

I just say \pi. No worries about precision

[tribdog]

I say 3.14159265 but then I screw up and say 7 every time even though I know it's wrong. it's just stuck in my head that way. In a pinch I can recite pi to 3000 digits since no one I know can check whether I'm wrong or not

[moe darklight]

I just carry with me a gigantic wheel and a ruler at all times.


... this thread should be re-named "the official pi lame-joke-O-rama thread" :rofl:

[Chi Meson]

I can remember all the digits but not necessarily in the correct order.

MY joke, Kurdt. That's MY joke!:grumpy:

In 10th grade I had a 12 digit calculator (1980's HP, the "sideways" kind). If you multiplied pi x 1000, then subtracted 3141, you got an extra 3 digits, for a total of 15 digits. I never bothered to memorize any more than that:
3.14159265358979

[Kurdt]

MY joke, Kurdt. That's MY joke!:grumpy:



Thats what happens when ancient threads are resurrected. I can't be expected to read all posts :tongue:

Anyway it was a rather awful rip off of Morecambe and Wise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQNYUJIW4sw).

[tribdog]

I had a friend in high school who memorized \sqrt{2} to 200+ decimal places, because e and pi were to mundane. He used to come up to me at my locker and start reciting. :rofl: We still keep in contact after 35 years.

and he's still reciting?

[Curious3141]

At last count, I remember somewhere around 200 digits of pi.

[Smurf]

It has a three in it, right?

[moe darklight]

and he's still reciting?

hahahaha :rofl::rofl:

[gabee]

I decided to remember a few this weekend just for kicks...I have 3.141592653589793238.

[Smurf]

I decided to remember a few this weekend just for kicks...I have 3.141592653589793238.

Ha! I knew it!

[Astronuc]

and he's still reciting? Yes - he still does it, but he's not quite so serious about it.

[tribdog]

Have you ever checked him? once you get three or four digits in you could make it up and no one would know. It's easy to fake being a genius, look at Smurf. I know a guy who mumbles numbers all the time.

[Astronuc]

I once gave him a piece of paper with \sqrt{2} to 100+ decimal places. He would have me stand there reading the paper while he recited the number - he didn't fake it. He is now responsible for integration of instrumentation and protection (reactor safety) systems in modern nuclear power plants.

[tribdog]

Tell him to give up on the number and try reciting safety procedures in case of a melt down. priorities man

[dontdisturbmycircles]

Tell him to give up on the number and try reciting safety procedures in case of a melt down. priorities man


haha tribdog :rofl:

[HungryFox]

Just to be a complete *******, I'm going to resurrect this post.

By the way: 3.141592653589793238 (18 digits)

[Monique]

Congratulations, I think we have a winner!

:rolleyes:

[Jimmy]

Does 10π count?

[HungryFox]

No, Jim, 10π doesn't count. XD

[pzona]

I used to have a mnemonic system (thanks to my two study hall periods a day in tenth grade), and I ended up memorizing it to about 30 digits. The only ones I remember now are 3.1415926, which is still more than I'll ever need to use...

[Jimmy]

No, Jim, 10π doesn't count. XD

Doh!

[OmCheeto]

3.14159265358979

365.24219878

as a lysdexic, I got very po'd memorizing these silly numbers only to find myself getting the last four digits mixed up at the ripe old age of 10. I gave up.

Then in college I discovered you were not supposed to list accuracy past a certain point because it was pointless.

I was very happy that I stopped.

:smile:

[mgb_phys]

But can you recite all of it - backwards

[Sorry!]

3.14 :smile:

[Pythagorean]

3.141

[redargon]

22/7

[OmCheeto]

But can you recite all of it - backwards

Nope. I don't think I can recite anything backwards. I'm a forward thinker.

[Monique]

I don't understand why people waste their time remembering the decimals of Pi, do something productive that will actually be of value! :rolleyes:

[redargon]

exactly, one should also memorise e; Universal gas constant, R; Stefan-Boltzmann constant, σ; Speed of light in a vacuum, c; Planck constant, h; The density of air at various altitudes, ρ; etc, etc, etc... :tongue:

[FeDeX_LaTeX]

Used to do 368 digits - can't anymore though, since it was so pointless. I can easily do about 262 now, though.

[Andre]

Wow, a very tenacious thread with several necropostings all the way from 2003.

I find memorizing a couple of telephone #'s more practical.

[rootX]

22/7

[leroyjenkens]

I remember 3.14159. Recently I tried to add an additional 5 or 6 numbers onto it during my spare time. I remembered them for a little while, but now I can't remember them.

[DR13]

I know all of the digits. :P

[Gokul43201]

I know all of the digits of 22/7 :biggrin:

[BobG]

I know 6 digits, which is 3 more than I really need.

I know 7 digits of 22/7, which is definitely all I need.

[elect_eng]

I know all of the digits. :P

I know most of them, but I always forget the last one.

Seriously, I inadvertantly memorized 16 digits, since this is the approximate limit of double precision representation of floating point numbers in computers. In the old days, cut and paste was not as easy as today, and it was quicker to just type them in.

3.141592653589793

[okkvlt]

i remember:
pi=3.14159
e=2.718282
thats odd. i remember one more digit of e than of pi.

[MotoH]

3.14159
1.414
299,792,4458 m/s
2.718

That is all I remember off hand

[Phrak]

3.1415926535897932384626 (is that right?), then im lost. Sometimes I can do more but without confidence.

In a humbling experience, I typed Pi[1,000,000] into Mathematica and it returned a few dozen digits of Pi asking if I really wanted it all. After I told it I wan't kidding it delivered all one million digits in a few seconds.

[rootX]

if you know pi, you know e:

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/e_to_the_pi_times_i.png

http://xkcd.com/179/

:)

[Klockan3]

I don't understand why people waste their time remembering the decimals of Pi, do something productive that will actually be of value! :rolleyes:
I saw this post yesterday and thought; maybe I should look at this pi! Doesn't take that long memorising raw numbers, now I know:
3.
1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 59

I am sure you know much more digits than that, associated to different things than pi though. I mean 4 digits take ~1 minute to memorize, so the above string should take roughly 15 minutes. Not that much of your life.

[NeoDevin]

http://zs1.smbc-comics.com/comics/20100130.gif

[ideasrule]

I think the average scientist knows many more digits of pi than the average non-scientist, just because they use the number more often.

[Klockan3]

I doubt that there is any scientist who knows less than 3.14.

[dlgoff]

I didn't read all the above post to see if this has already been posted, but the Current World Record : Chao Lu of China recited 67,890 decimal places on 20 November 2005.
http://www.pi-world-ranking-list.com/news/index.html

[Redbelly98]

I think the average scientist knows many more digits of pi than the average non-scientist, just because they use the number more often.
I doubt that there is any scientist who knows less than 3.14.
I add a couple of digits every decade or so. Now in my late 40's, I have 8 or 9 digits memorized.

In actual practice, my calculator has a π button clearly labeled. Instead of spending time memorizing many digits, I have memorized the following:

In Excel, =pi() results in π
if I don't know whether pi is defined in a given computer language, defining a variable ppii=4.*atan(1.) always works

[Leptos]

I've always known pi up to 15 digits or so, but I was never the type of guy who would memorize pi to a few hundred decimal places. I'd rather memorize the scale of everything in the universe from plank length to the size of our observable universe, the mass and half life of elements, reference numbers in physics, the names of stars, etc.

Edit: Memorized it to 100 digits just now to test my memory.
http://www.greenpeninc.com/memorize/memorize.php
Now trying to memorize e and phi to 100 digits just for amusement. Darn you PF!

[Capt. Obvious]

3.14159

[Felipe61]

must get really old now.. i only remember 3 decimals of pi.

[rewebster]

must get really old now.. i only remember 3 decimals of pi.

if you remembered 3----would they still be called decimals?


(i just know one decimal of pi)

[Klockan3]

if you remembered 3----would they still be called decimals?


(i just know one decimal of pi)
So, you say 3.1?

[rewebster]

So, you say 3.1?

the (one) decimal is the decimal (point/dot) :smile:

[Gokul43201]

I saw this post yesterday and thought; maybe I should look at this pi! Doesn't take that long memorising raw numbers, now I know:
3.
1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 59

I am sure you know much more digits than that, associated to different things than pi though. I mean 4 digits take ~1 minute to memorize, so the above string should take roughly 15 minutes. Not that much of your life.I don't think I could do it in 15 minutes if I tried right now. And probably not in an hour even - unless I figure out some clever trick to memorize it. In general though, the way I memorize things is by seeing/using them periodically (i.e., through familiarity). I'm terrible at committing to memory by repeated recitation, like I've seen others do, but that's also probably because I have not put much effort into developing that skill.

[Klockan3]

I don't think I could do it in 15 minutes if I tried right now. And probably not in an hour even - unless I figure out some clever trick to memorize it. In general though, the way I memorize things is by seeing/using them periodically (i.e., through familiarity). I'm terrible at committing to memory by repeated recitation, like I've seen others do, but that's also probably because I have not put much effort into developing that skill.
The trick is to want to memorize, at least for me. If I don't care I will only remember bits but when I focus I can remember just about anything indefinitely. The problem is of course that you can't just conjure up such focus at will.

But are you certain you can't do it? I really wonder how peoples memories works, since they seem to forget just about anything all the time... How do you even study with that disability? It would force you to do the same thing over and over again only to know that it still wont all stick. Kinda like shovelling raw rice with a fork!

Not intending to offend, I really wonder. I'd guess that they are just insanely passionate/motivated about it so they continue on anyway, but it is hard to accept that people have to forget just about everything. Seems so counter intuitive, I am hoping that there is a switch those haven't found yet and if they flip it they would stop forgetting important things.

[Phrak]

I've memorized thousands of digits of Pi just fine.
But it's the digits to the right of the radix that I have trouble with.

Or.

I've memorized every digit of Pi.
Putting all ten of them in sequence is harder.

[Klockan3]

Pi is a lot easier to remember if you calculate with pi basis:
1.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000000....

[Pinu7]

Pi is around 3-ish.

[rewebster]

Pi is around 3-ish.

3.ish

[ThomasEdison]

I just find that learning pi is a good way to maintain your memory active, plus it's a really good time waster. I found out that now i can remember series of numbers in a lot less time. I just use birthdates, repeating numbers, and my latest, pattern you do with your fingers when you type the keys on the numpad.

I agree. I did the same thing between classes when I was in school towards the end of the semester. I got to 108 places.
I did it as an exercise because I had always told myself I had a terrible memory and I wanted to see how bad my memory was. The semester ended when I was at 108 numbers (I think) and so I stopped the exercise.
There are people who can memorize pi to 10,000 places. I suppose I could have gotten much farther if I made the time to do so. I gained a block of seven numbers daily and that was the 'trick' to it. Also I made it into a rythm like which is a second trick. I think seven numbers at a time contain a rythm and that rythms aid memory and this is why groups of seven numbers pop up a lot. I don't mean anything dumb like numerology, I am talking about the rythm they make and how that aids memory.

I still remember 18 places after the 3.
I think I could have gone much further had I made the effort.


Its a valuable exercise for people interested in their own memory. I didn't read this entire thread but I bet 90% of the comments were like this: "Why do that? It's stupid. That number is not useful to that many places!" The point is not the number but I think that testing one's own memory is useful and it doesn't matter what the object of that memory is. It could be zip codes or sports stats.