Friday, March 13, 2009

It's Pi Day!


Well actually tomorrow is Pi Day, but the 6th Grade at OES is celebrating today since tomorrow is Saturday and there will be no school. Pi, you may well know, is a letter in the Greek alphabet that is similar to our "p". Pi is also the mathematical symbol for 3.14159265 (commonly rounded to 3.14). Saturday is the 14th day of the 3rd month 0r 3/14 (3.14), consequently many math teachers focus on this day to teach the geometry of circles.

My wife (Amy) baked pies last night for our son's 6th grade math classes, so they could have a round pie on "Pi Day." Isn't he a great looking young man and she a beautiful lady?

Math Review: What does "pi" have to do with circles? Many credit Archimedes with forming the first accepted formula for calculating "pi". For simplicity we will remind your of the formulas to calculate the circumference and area of a circle using "pi".

Circumference: C= "pi" x d (where "d" is the diameter)
Area: A= "pi" x (r x r) ("r" is the radius)

"Pi" is a constant number that works in the calculations of any size circle. If you take a 9 inch pizza the circumference of that pizza is 3.14 x 9 = 28.26 inches. The area of that 9 inch pizza is 254.34 sq in.

Circles are wonderful, circles are complete. This constancy of "pi" makes me want to ask, "Could all this be planned?" Is nature the result of an unintelligent accident or could there be a creator behind the intelligent design?

I know that atheistic evolutionist will take me to task. I am not trying to debate creation vs. evolution in this post. My work here is too simplistic and too focused to win any debate on its own. I do hope however to demonstrate to people of faith one more reason to continue to believe in God as creator. "For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Col 1:16-17 - ESV)

Happy "Pi Day!"

Scott

1 comment:

John said...

Pi and circles never end...