How to Calculate Pi by Throwing Frozen Hot Dogs

Okay, so maybe this is a little strange on not entirely practical, but it seems fun and interesting. Most lay people associate construction work with a lot of banging, cutting, lifting and other tasks mostly involving more braun than brain. But in actuality, there is a lot of math and science that goes into construction. A surprising number of trades require regular use of trigonometry, geometry, algebra and statistics. Engineering requires a fair amount of calculus as well. One of the trickier calculations that comes up in construction is involving curved and circular building components. Essential to any measurement of length, area or volume of curved/rounded shapes is the mysterious pi. Calculating pi to many decimal places is a true test of humans and computers everywhere. But here is a fun and less conventional way to do it using hot dogs:

Throwing a pie in someone’s face is good. Throwing food at pi is better. Believe it or not, of all the countless ways to approximate the most prolific irrational number in the universe, there are none quite as interesting or as surprisingly satisfying as throwing perfectly good food around your kitchen. In fewer steps than it takes to circumscribe your house in a circle of baguettes, you, too, can easily add a slice of pi into your dinner menu tonight. The best part is…it really works!

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1 June 2007 | Construction, Experts, General | Comments

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