Pi Trivia Quiz

1.

1 point

Are pi’s digits periodic? In other words, do the digits ever repeat themselves in any pattern?

No. Every periodic number is rational, but pi is irrational

Perhaps. Not enough digits of pi have been calculated to know yet

Yes. The digits repeat themselves every 6,000,000 decimal places

Yes. Every infinitely long number repeats itself

2.

1 point

How many hours did it take a supercomputer to calculate pi to 51.5 billion digits, in 1997?

78 hours

29 hours

3 hours

367 days

3.

1 point

Who, in 1706, first gave the Greek letter “pi” its current mathematical definition?

William Jones

Archimedes

Albert Einstein

Attila the Hun

4.

1 point

People tried for centuries to “square the circle”. What were they trying to do?

Determine the value of pi squared

Alter a pie recipe intended for a round pan so that it would fit exactly into a square pan

Multiply a circle by itself

Use a straightedge and compass to construct a square exactly equal in area to a given circle

5.

1 point

Pi is an irrational number. What does that really mean?

Nobody with sound judgement has anything to do with it

Its digits cannot be rationed out evenly

it is a real number, but can’t be expressed as a ratio of two integers

6.

1 point

What is the current world record for memorization of the decimal places of pi?

31,811 places, by Rajan Mahadevan

4096 places, by Simon Plouffe

67,890 places, by Chao Lu

1000 places, by Alexander Craig Aitkin

7.

1 point

What is the earliest known reference to pi in history?

The Bible

An Egyptian papyrus scroll, written approx. 1650 BC by Ahmes the Scribe

Euclid’s Elements, written in the 3rd century BC

The Rosetta Stone, approx. 200 BC

8.

1 point

If you calculated the circumference of a circle the size of the known universe, requiring that the answer be accurate to within the radius of one proton, how many decimal places of pi would you need to use? (i.e., 3.14, or 3.1415, or 3.1415926, etc.)?

6 billion

48,000

39

two million

9.

1 point

Imagine if you wrapped a rope tightly around the earth at the equator. How much longer would you have to make the rope if you wanted it to be exactly one foot above the surface all the way around?

2pi feet

pi r squared feet, where r is the radius of the earth

2 pi r feet, where r is the radius of the earth

10.

1 point

Some people became mentally deranged when trying to “square the circle”. What was this illness named?

Impossibilius Fittus

Repetitionatis Decimalus

Morbus Cyclometricus

Pius Rombus

11.

1 point

Among the digits of pi currently known, the concentration of each of the digits 0-9 are pretty close to equal. However, in the first 30 places of pi’s decimal expansion, which digit is completely missing?

7

0

2

8

12.

1 point

What is the “formal” definition of pi?

the radius of a circle

3.1415926

the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter

a delicious dessert

the surface area of a sphere of diameter 22/7

13.

1 point

Pi is transcendental. What does this mean, in mathematics?

It is equal to the ratio of two integers

It was Ralph Waldo Emerson’s favorite number

It cannot be expressed as an integer, or as a root or quotient of integers

Its square root is imaginary