Pi Day crowns new champ

After South Florida Community College sophomore Alex Wheaton correctly recited 138 digits of pi (3.14159...) Monday afternoon, a female student yelled out, "Oh, my God!"

The excitement over Wheaton's accomplishment proved to be justified because he easily beat out the four other contestants at SFCC's Pi Day celebration, which was held near the pendulum in Building B.

Wheaton improved over the 86 digits he recited last year.

"My goal this year was 500, but I got lazy and only memorized 150 and then I stopped at 130 something," he said.

He memorized the digits in groups of five.

"When I was practicing, I would recite them ahead and I would write down the first number to each group of five," Wheaton said. "Then as I was going over it, I make sure I have each group of five down before I go on to the next group of five."

The competition included four young men and one coed - Patricia Kelley, the defending champion, with 115 digits last year.

A contestant's tally ends when they recite a wrong digit or pause longer than five seconds.

Behind Wheaton's 138 correct digits, here's how the others did - Kelley (110), John Theado (104), Dominic Filice (95) and Roberto Gomez (87).

For his win, Wheaton received a gift certificate for a free pie from Village Inn, a scientific calculator and a pie baking dish with the Greek letter pi.

For those who don't remember their geometry lessons, the Greek letter pi is used to represent the irrational number 3.14..., which is used in mathematical equations involving a circle's radius and its circumference and to calculate the area of a circle.

Math enthusiasts have been celebrating Pi Day, March 14, for years. Since it fell on a Sunday this year, the SFCC Math Department held its Pi Day celebration Monday.

The day became a "national" day on March 12, 2009, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution recognizing March 14, 2009 as National Pi Day.

State Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith released a statement last week regarding Pi Day and the importance of mathematics.

"I want to take less than 3.14 seconds to encourage everyone to recognize the role this infinite number has played throughout our history and well into our future. As mathematics has wedged itself into the hearts and minds of young and old for centuries, Pi has rounded out the exploration of mathematical, engineering, science and technology concepts.

"Pi Day is a wonderful reminder to encourage our students to not only broaden their education in mathematics, but to apply its educational slivers in their everyday lives."

FAST FACTS

Math enthusiasts have been celebrating Pi Day, March 14, for years. Since it fell on a Sunday this year, the SFCC Math Department held its Pi Day celebration Monday.

The day became a "national" day on March 12, 2009, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution recognizing March 14, 2009 as National Pi Day.