This was just a starting point for four Mt. Ararat High School students who each accurately recited the first 100 digits of “Pi” recently.
Two students got beyond the first 230 digits of Pi’s decimal representation, which never ends.
Pi is an irregular number representing the ratio between the circumference and diameter of a circle, said Carmen Palmer, Mt. Ararat math teacher.
When you divide the circumference by the diameter, “You always get Pi, for every perfect circle,” Palmer said.
On Tuesday, students recited the numbers one at a time — some spurting out digits in rapid succession, others iterating Pi at a steady pace, like sophomore Ben York, who kept time with the pointing tap of an index finger.
In the end, junior Emma Cota was the top Pi master, reciting 259 digits.
Pann Nwe, a senior, came in second, reciting 238 digits. York was third with 102 digits and senior Colton Burne recited 100 digits.
What would compel students into such a mathematical tongue twister?
The Portland Sea Dogs, the Double-A Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, partnered with the Portland Pie Co. to create a “Pi Day Contest” for high schools.
The contest was open to all students in grades 9-12, with all participants receiving a voucher to attend Pi Day Recognition Night — 6 p.m. April 9 at Hadlock Field — when the Sea Dogs host the Reading Fightin Phils.
There will be a pregame ceremony honoring the winners of the Pi contest from each participating high school. The overall winner will throw out the ceremonial first-pitch.
Cota said she already knew the first 50 digits of Pi prior to the contest.
She memorized Pi by writing out the digits, grouping them into two, three or four, “and then just kept saying it.”
When she occasionally paused, she was picturing the numbers as she’d grouped them on paper.
Cota, a member of the school’s math team, said after the Pi recital that she loves math and can’t remember a time she didn’t.
“It’s very logical and, if you mess up, you can trace back your steps. So, it’s soothing in a way,” Cota said.
The same goes for the field of science for the junior, who plans to study neuroscience after high school.
“I find the brain is fascinating because we don’t know much about it now,” Cota explained. “There is still so much to learn about it.”
dmoore@timesrecord.com
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