[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 or not other 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)