A slice of genius: boy of 10 breaks record for reciting pi
A BOY aged 10 is believed to have become the youngest Briton to recite pi to 220 places, after performing the feat in his school assembly.
Charley Thomas, of Wycliffe Preparatory School in Stonehouse, Gloucs, achieved the feat on Pi Day, on March 14, after rehearsing for a week.
Pi is calculated by dividing a circle’s circumference by its diameter. The first digits, 3.14, are well known, but the number is infinitely long and extending the sequence is difficult because it follows no set pattern.
Charley said: “I’m not very good at standing up and doing something in front of people so I was a bit nervous at assembly.
“I had rehearsed at home and knew I could get to 220 places,” he added. “I really like maths.”
The pi number is used in engineering, physics, supercomputing and space exploration, because its value can be used in calculations for waves, circles and cylinders.
Suresh Kumar Sharma, from India, holds the record for reciting the most digits of pi, having reached 70,030 in 2015, according to the Pi World Ranking List website, which places Charley 451st in the world.
Adrian Palmer, the headmaster of Wycliffe Preparatory School, said: “This is an incredible achievement and one that no Wycliffe pupil has done before. Charley received a standing ovation for his efforts in assembly and it was so richly deserved.”
Last week, Emma Haruka Iwao, an employee at Google, broke the Guinness World Record for calculating pi to the most number of digits. Her calculation to 31.4 trillion decimal places broke the previous record by nearly nine trillion digits.
Pi Day is held on March 14 because in American date notation it reads 3/14.