WEBVTT

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

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3.1415926535897932

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384626433832795028

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841971693993751058

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94459230781640628

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Hi, my name is Chirag...

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(Applause, cheers)

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Hi my name is Chirag Singh,

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

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(Laughter)

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

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which is commonly known as 3.14.

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However, Pi is much more than that.

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

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never stops and doesn't have a pattern.

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

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Pi was first discovered
in ancient times by the Greeks.

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At that time Pi
was erroneously known as 3.13.

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This improper calculation of Pi
persisted for many years,

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until Archimedes,
a Sicilian mathematician,

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came along and corrected it.

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He calculated Pi using polygons inscribed
and circumscribed around circles

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and calculated Pi
to our 3.14 version of Pi.

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However, he only calculated Pi
with 3 digits.

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Since Archimedes,
people all over the world

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have been obsessed with calculating Pi.

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Even Newton and Leibnitz,

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

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devised additional methods
of calculating Pi.

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

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most of them are incorrect,

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

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

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or too low.

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Even though most formulas are incorrect,

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some are precise,
such as Machin's formula.

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

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

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The first recorded
computer calculation of Pi

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

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He calculated Pi to 710 digits.

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Because computers made
calculating Pi easier and faster,

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more and more people
devoted themselves to computing Pi.

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Just this year, a computer
owned by Shigeru Kondo

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calculated Pi to 10 trillion digits.

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That's a lot of Pi!

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(Laughter)

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He calculated this by using
a special program.

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Despite the digits' being calculated
by a computer,

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

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By now you're probably thinking,

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

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Of course not.

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

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and circular-typed objects.

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It is also used
in probability calculations.

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When we truly consider how Pi is used,

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we realize how important
such calculations are,

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when we're dealing with things
such as asteroids

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traveling through our universe.

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Without knowing an asteroid's size,

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

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

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and likely trajectory.

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Because of Pi's interesting uses,

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

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Because of my personal passion for Pi,

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

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

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which is presently 67,890 digits.

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I may only have 75 digits memorized,

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

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It's only a matter of time
and perseverance.

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The second thing
I'm interesting in doing with Pi

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is calculating further digits.

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I plan on doing this
by studying how other people

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have used computers
in the past to calculate Pi

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

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

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For me, Pi is the most interesting
number ever discovered

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

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That is why Pi is my passion.

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(Applause, cheers)