How many decimals of Pi do you remember?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the memorization of the digits of Pi, exploring personal experiences, motivations, and the perceived utility of such memorization. Participants share how many digits they remember, their methods for memorization, and their thoughts on the relevance of memorizing Pi in practical scenarios.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant claims to have memorized 150 digits of Pi and practices learning more each day.
  • Others express skepticism about the usefulness of memorizing Pi to such lengths, with some stating they only remember a few digits.
  • Some participants suggest that memorizing Pi can be a fun way to keep the mind active or serve as a memory exercise.
  • A few participants mention alternative activities for improving coordination or mental focus, such as juggling or sniping.
  • There are humorous exchanges about the practicality of using calculators versus memorizing Pi.
  • One participant recalls a method of memorizing Pi based on a quote from Einstein, linking it to emotional calmness.
  • Another participant references a historical bill that inaccurately defined Pi, highlighting the variability in its representation.
  • Some participants reflect on their past attempts to memorize Pi, with varying degrees of success.
  • There are comments about the nature of online discussions and the tendency to revive old threads.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally do not agree on the value of memorizing Pi to many decimal places, with some finding it pointless while others enjoy the challenge. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the practical utility of such memorization.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention the limitations of calculators in handling many decimal places of Pi, indicating that practical calculations rarely require such precision. There are also references to personal motivations for memorization that vary widely among participants.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those curious about memory techniques, the cultural significance of Pi, or the interplay between mathematics and personal hobbies.

pi-70679
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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.
 
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2 decimals. 3.14. Not that memorizing pie out to all those decimal places is pointless, but...well, yeah, it's pointless.
 
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I got to 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...
 
Oh my god! why? if you ever need to use pie why don't you just use the pie button on your calculator, far simplar.
 
Dude, andy, pi buttons on calculators don't go to 150 digits...
 
I'm with zk4586 on this one. I think once I may have known it to five digits but that was long ago.
 
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 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
 
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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…
 
  • #10
as nice as this sounds, i doubt my teachers would appreciate.
 
  • #11
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...
 
  • #12
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.
 
  • #13
What's Pi? :smile: 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)
 
  • #14
Hi

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
 
  • #15
Artman: True :smile: 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.
 
  • #16
hi

fun, in maths?
 
  • #17
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 that's a different topic all together, the only good thing about maths is its very useful whilst studying physics, at least alex00 agress with me.
 
  • #18
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?
 
  • #19
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
 
  • #20
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?
 
  • #21
I remember the exact number for π ------> it's right under the space button on my HP48GX:wink:
 
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  • #22
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.
 
  • #23
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
 
  • #24
i know 5 places. 3.1416, (rounded).
 
  • #25
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
 
  • #26
There's more after 3?
 
  • #27
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.
 
  • #28
Another four-year old thread? Do these frequently show up on Google when people seach for strings like "pi digits memorize?"
 
  • #29
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
 
  • #30
I never really bothered past 3.14; it's accurate enough for my needs.

loseyourname said:
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*
 
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