Thursday, March 8, 2007

Can I find a trick recalling pi easily?

Now how do these lines make sense to you?

  • Now I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy chapters involving quantum mechanics.
  • Can I have a large container of coffee?

These are what are known as mnemonics. They help you remember certain numbers and relations. The number of letters in each word of these sentences represents a digit in ...(yes, you guessed right).......Pi.

So, the first sentence gives:
3.14159265358979
which is the value of pi upto 14 digits after decimal.

The following mnemonic I had memorized long ago. It gives the value of pi up to 31 decimal places. (For the 32nd place you could just remember my first name "ankit")

Now I, even I, would celebrate
in rhymes unapt, the great
immortal syracusan, rivaled nevermore,
who in his wondrous lore,
passed on before,
left men his guidance,
how to circles mensurate.

I should have given proper credit to the creator but unfortunately I do not remember the name. (Strange memory I've got ! )

The following mnemonic is still better:

Man, I can't, I shant
formulate an anthem where the words comprise mnemonics
dreaded mnemonics for pi
The numerals just bother me, always
even the dry anterior
try to request something lower (zero)
in numerary aptitude, even I, pantaloon gallant
I cannot actualize the requested mnemonics
the leading fifty, I...

It gives the value of Pi up to the first fifty digits (i.e. 49 digits after decimal). And it's singable too !

An approximate value of pi is:

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062

862089986280348253421170679821480865132823066470938446095505822317253594081

284811174502841027019385211055596446229489549303820

Some other pi-mnemonics are:
  • Pie. I wish I could determine pi. "Eureka!" cried the great inventor. "Christmas pudding, Christmas pie, is the problem's very center!"
  • For a girl I loved contrived; by nature tough, her heart survived.
  • How I wish I could calculate pi faster.
  • But I must a while endeavour to reckon right the ratio.
And if you haven't already guessed it, the title of this post itself is a pi-mnemonic.

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