The Pi Trivia Game
part of Pi Land

Finally this is your chance to pay tribute to the magnificent transcendental number that we have all grown to love! Test your knowledge of history, mathematics, and even a little physics.

Here are 25 (given to you 5 at a time) fun pi-related questions, picked randomly from my exciting pi question database! Get ready for the thrill of your lifetime, the ultimate challenge, The Pi Trivia Game!

Pi Flower
1. One way to approximate the value of pi is to have a computer pick two random numbers, x and y, each between -1 and 1. If it does so N times, and if, for M of those times x^2 + y^2 < 1, then pi is approximately equal to 4*M/N (presumably becoming more accurate as N increases). This method of approximation is an example of:
the Windelius algorithm
squaring the circle
the Monte Carlo method
guessing
calculation of an infinite series

2. How does one convert pi in base 10 to base 2?
Keep only the '0' and the '1' in the decimal expansion.
It is impossible because pi > 2.
Replace each digit of pi in base 10 with a 0 if it is divisible by 2 and with and 1 if it is not.
Successively multiply pi by 2 and put a '1' when it is greater than 1 and a '0' when it is smaller than 1. Repeat this step after having kept only the fractional part of the result.
Divide pi in base 10 by 5.

3. What 1768 proof about pi is the German mathematician Johann Lambert famous for?
Pi > e.
No pattern exists in pi's digits.
Pi is irrational.
The area of a circle is equal to pi times the square of its radius.
It's fun to recite digits of pi.

4. Say you have a rope wrapped tightly around the earth at the equator. How much longer would you have to make the rope if you wanted the rope to be exactly 1 foot above the surface the whole way around? (assume that the earth has a constant radius at the equator)
2*pi feet
2*pi*R feet, where R is the radius of the earth
pi*R^2 feet
pi + D feet, where D is the diameter of the earth
pi/2 feet

5. In what year were the first 100 digits of pi first calculated?
48 BC
1947
1492
1701
1812

eve@eveandersson.com