Today is PI Day and if there is any number that should be celebrated it is PI. PI shows up in so many formulas and equations in math and science and engineering that it would be virtually impossible to make even a passable list. For mechanical engineers, anything rotating “around and around”, like gears, will have PI somewhere in the design calculations. So go PI go! And thank you for your service!
On a personal note, when I was in college calculators had not been invented so all our calculations were done on a “slide rule.” (See Google images) If a formula or equation contained PI we used 22 divided by 7 as a close approximation. If I use my current calculator which has PI built in, 22 divided by 7 is off (to 7 decimal places) from the actual value of PI by 0.0012645, which is just over one-tenth of a percent off. For what we were doing, that was close enough.
So again, if there is any number that needs to be celebrated it is PI. So join me in toasting PI (using my round glass) on its special day. -Dr. Tom
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