Highlights
- For some, today (July 22) is Pi Approximation Day, but for some others, it is March 14.
- Pi is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle.
- Greek letter π was first used by William Jones in 1706.
Pi Approximation Day 2022: Some parts of the world consider today (July 22) as Pi Approximation Day, but some others celebrate March 14 as this day. Why is it so? If you delve a little deeper into these days, you will know why.
March 14 or 3.14 is the decimal value of Pi, hence, the date seems accurate to celebrate this day. However, not many parts of the world write dates in the month/date format. The British manner of writing dates is the date/month format. July 22, also translates to 22/7, which is the fractional way how Pi is written. Hence, July 22 is celebrated as Pi Approximation Day.
What is Pi?
Pi is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle. It is represented as the Greek letter for p or Pi (π). Regardless of the size of the circle, the ratio is always equal to Pi, which is fractionally represented as 22/7 or 3.14 in the decimal form.
History of Pi
According to the book, A History of Pi by Petr Beckmann, the Greek letter π was first used by William Jones in 1706. It is believed Jones used the letter as an abbreviation of the periphery, which turned into a standard mathematical notation nearly 30 years later. In 1737, Leonhard Euler adopted and popularised the symbol of Pi. Georges Buffon, an 18th-century French mathematician, invented a way to calculate Pi based on probability.
Archimedes, one of the greatest ancient mathematicians of Syracuse, first calculated the value of Pi in 250 BC. This is the reason why Pi is also referred to as the ‘Archimedes’ Constant.’
Why is Pi Approximation Day celebrated?
As Pi plays a key role in the calculation of the circumference of a circle, celebrating Pi Approximation Day is of great significance. Even the US space agency NASA uses it to calculate spacecraft trajectories.
