It’s National Pi Day! Not just a geeky celebration for mathematicians, but an event officially recognized by the House of Representatives! And, along with the word “hypotenuse,” "pi" is one part of math class that people actually remember past the age of 10.
For those who skipped school... pi is an infinite number (usually represented as 3.14) with no repeating pattern, and is most commonly used to calculate the circumference of a circle.
Last year’s Pi Day was extra special, because the year and day and month (3/14/15) all configured to constitute the first four places after the decimal point in the beloved mathematical constant. This year is only slightly less special: It’s “Rounded Pi Day,” since the number in fifth place after the decimal is 9 -- hence, 3.1416.
Officially, National Pi Day is meant to “recognize the continuing importance of National Science Foundation’s math and science education programs.” So, basically it’s a chance for discounted food and goods.
Here’s our “round-up” of pi-rticipating pi-raphernalia:
Get a 31.4 percent discount on a Dell computer
Microsoft is selling its Dell XPS 13 9350 Signature Edition Laptop for $685.31, down from $999.
Snap up a sweet pie for $3.14 off
Whole Foods has sliced the price of its sweet pies by $3.14, with $2 off takeout pizzas.
Grab a $3.14 pizza pie
Available at up-and-coming customizable pizza chain Blaze Pizza and Texas chain Urban Bricks.
ABC Michigan Pie will give you one free slice of its signature apple, blueberry, and cherry pie with any purchase today.
Eat free Pizza Hut for 3.14 years
Pizza Hut has gone one step further, and is offering 3.14 years of free pizza for anyone who can correctly solve three math problems set by a Princeton professor. Around $1,600 of pizza could be yours if you can answer questions like this: "I’m thinking of a ten-digit integer whose digits are all distinct. It happens that the number formed by the first n of them is divisible by n for each n from 1 to 10. What is my number?"
Investing app Drive Wealth is giving out $5 worth of stock to the first 314 customers to make a $50 investment via their app on March 14.
Sport your free Pi Day t-shirt
Get a free pi day t-shirt from ThinkGeek when you spend $25 or more.
Coincidentally, today is also National Napping Day. The perfect way to rest up after all that math. Or pizza.
