The Pi Trivia Game

by Eve Andersson

Home : Pi : The Pi Trivia Game

Finally this is your chance to pay tribute to the magnificent transcendental number that we have all grown to love! Here are 25 questions (given to you 5 at a time), picked randomly from my pi question database. Get ready for the thrill of your lifetime, the ultimate challenge, The Pi Trivia Game!

1. What is the formal definition of pi?
the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter
3.14159
the radius of a unit circle
the surface area of a sphere of diameter 22/7
a delicious dessert, especially if it contains cherries

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. It has been proven impossible to "square the circle." What does it mean to square the circle?
multiply a circle by itself
use a straightedge and compass to construct a square equal in area to a given circle
construct a square that perfectly circumscribes a circle
determine the value of pi squared
draw a circle with area equal to pi * (r squared)

4. 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.

5. Consider the following series of natural numbers, constructed by taking successively larger strings of digits from the beginning of the decimal expansion of the number pi:
3, 31, 314, 3141, 31415, 314159, 3141592, etc.
Out of the first 1000 numbers in this series, how many are primes? (for example, the first two numbers, 3 and 31, are both primes)
48
34
4
21
58
eve@eveandersson.com