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. 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:




2. In what year were the first 100 digits of pi first calculated?




3. For a given value of N: if you add up the first N decimals of pi (excluding the initial 3), the sum is 666 (not to imply that pi is at all satanic). What is the value of N?




4. It has been proven impossible to "square the circle." What does it mean to square the circle?




5. What is the earliest known reference to pi?





eve@eveandersson.com