My passion for Pi: Chirag Singh at TEDxYouth@BommerCanyon

No amount of apple pie or pumpkin pie will satisfy this nine year old student's hunger for mastering the mathematical constant that is the ratio of any Euclidean circle's circumference to its diameter. Endearingly, Chirag takes pi to a new level by explaining pi's history and relevance to our lives. First introduced to pi when he was in the second grade by watching his older sister do her math homework, he then decided pi was a fascinating number. Ever since, he's been studying pi & hopes to one day hold the world record for the most number of memorized pi digits.

[Chirag Singh. Pi Connoisseur.
Future Leader & Mathematician]

3.1415926535897932

384626433832795028

841971693993751058

94459230781640628

Hi, my name is Chirag...

(Applause, cheers)

Hi my name is Chirag Singh,

I am 9 years old and
I have a passion for Pi.

(Laughter)

Not cherry, apple or chicken pot pie
but the number Pi,

which is commonly known as 3.14.

However, Pi is much more than that.

Pi is a transcendental number,
which means that it is not algebraic,

never stops and doesn't have a pattern.

This is one of the reasons
why Pi is so difficult to calculate.

Pi was first discovered
in ancient times by the Greeks.

At that time Pi
was erroneously known as 3.13.

This improper calculation of Pi
persisted for many years,

until Archimedes,
a Sicilian mathematician,

came along and corrected it.

He calculated Pi using polygons inscribed
and circumscribed around circles

and calculated Pi
to our 3.14 version of Pi.

However, he only calculated Pi
with 3 digits.

Since Archimedes,
people all over the world

have been obsessed with calculating Pi.

Even Newton and Leibnitz,

who did a lot of calculus
in the late 17th century,

devised additional methods
of calculating Pi.

Despite the fact that there are
many different methods of finding Pi,

most of them are incorrect,

even the most commonly accepted,
equating it to 22 over 7.

These calculations are inaccurate,
because they're either too high,

or too low.

Even though most formulas are incorrect,

some are precise,
such as Machin's formula.

As time went by, people began
using computers to calculate Pi.

In fact, calculating Pi was used to test
proper functioning of early computers.

The first recorded
computer calculation of Pi

was done by a man named Ferguson
on a desk calculator in 1947.

He calculated Pi to 710 digits.

Because computers made
calculating Pi easier and faster,

more and more people
devoted themselves to computing Pi.

Just this year, a computer
owned by Shigeru Kondo

calculated Pi to 10 trillion digits.

That's a lot of Pi!

(Laughter)

He calculated this by using
a special program.

Despite the digits' being calculated
by a computer,

the process was quite lengthy
and took just over a year.

By now you're probably thinking,

"I finally can find calculating Pi
somewhat interesting, but is that all?"

Of course not.

Pi has many uses regarding measuring
the area and circumference of circles

and circular-typed objects.

It is also used
in probability calculations.

When we truly consider how Pi is used,

we realize how important
such calculations are,

when we're dealing with things
such as asteroids

traveling through our universe.

Without knowing an asteroid's size,

would we be able to defend ourselves
if it were coming our way?

Thank goodness we can use Pi
to help us determine such an object size

and likely trajectory.

Because of Pi's interesting uses,

I'm obviously passionate about the number
and what we can do with it.

Because of my personal passion for Pi,

there are two things
I'm seeking to do regarding Pi:

the first is to continue memorizing Pi
in an attempt to break the world record,

which is presently 67,890 digits.

I may only have 75 digits memorized,

but next week I may have 90 digits
and the week after that, 116.

It's only a matter of time
and perseverance.

The second thing
I'm interesting in doing with Pi

is calculating further digits.

I plan on doing this
by studying how other people

have used computers
in the past to calculate Pi

and see if I can devise a faster,
more accurate method.

Only time will tell if I can
further develop our knowledge of Pi.

For me, Pi is the most interesting
number ever discovered

and we have learned so much
and we'll continue to learn from it.

That is why Pi is my passion.

(Applause, cheers)