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Article: An ode to an irrational number: 3.14 was a perfect date for a math festival that's as easy as pi.
- Article from:
- The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA)
- Article date:
- March 15, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Philadelphia Inquirer. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Kellie Patrick
Mar. 15--Schuylkill Elementary fifth grader Chad Komar wound a blue measuring tape around the crimped edges of a petite apple pie and jotted "32 cm" on his work sheet.
Then, after pausing to sample a few crumbs that were casualties of his work, he stretched the tape across the middle of the pie and found that the center was about a third as long as the crust.
And so an 11-year-old got to know a number used by ancient Egyptians and NASA scientists, one that stretches into infinity and yet is less than 4.
His pie taught him pi.
Yesterday was Pi Day, and students at schools across the nation celebrated by ...