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square root day


3/3/09: Math fans to celebrate Square Root Day

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Dust off the slide rules and recharge the calculators. Square Root Day is upon us.
The math-buffs’ holiday, which only occurs nine times each century, falls on Tuesday — 3/3/09 (for the mathematically challenged, three is the square root of nine).
“These days are like calendar comets, you wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day — and poof — they’re gone,” said Ron Gordon, a Redwood City teacher who started a contest meant to get people excited about the event.
The winner gets, of course, $339 for having the biggest Square Root Day event.
Gordon’s daughter even set up a Facebook page — one of a half-dozen or so dedicated to the holiday — and hundreds of people had signed up with plans to celebrate in some way. Celebrations are as varied: Some cut root vegetables into squares, others make food in the shape of a square root symbol.
The last such day was five years ago, Feb. 2, 2004, which coincided with Groundhog Day. The next is seven years away, on April 4, 2016. The final square root day of the century will be September 9, 2081.

Look at me celebrating and I’m not really even a math fan. I think the main reason is my Mom’s birthday is one of these equations and I’ve always been a little bit jealous. I like it when things add up nicely.
Here is the full list of square root days for the last century- yes, only 9 each century:
1/1/01
2/2/04
3/3/09
4/4/16
5/5/25
6/6/36
7/7/49
8/8/64
9/9/81
So please for the love- (and I know you’re busy) try and incorporate some square root into your day. Darn it, why can’t it be Pi day? Oh wait, that’s in a few weeks, March 14th.

1 Comment

  1. Jessica

    March 4, 2009 at 4:02 am

    I have to say I’m a much bigger fan of Pi Day. It happens every year, there’s usually a favorite food involved–pie, and I’m a fan of circles–mathmatically and aesthetically. ( =

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