How Many Digits Make Up the Most Recent Calculation of Pi?

When it comes to its length, the mathematical constant pi is anything but constant. It just keeps going. It can often be impressive and entertaining to see someone list dozens or even hundreds of the digits that make up pi, beginning – as every math nerd knows – with 3.14159, but if you really want to talk impressive, you need to turn to a supercomputer in Switzerland.

On August 5, 2021, researchers at the Competence Center for Data Analysis, Visualization and Simulation unofficially set a new world record by having a computer calculate pi to 62.8 trillion decimal places. While it might seem a little irrational (pun intended) to ostensibly set a new Guinness World Record, the scientists weren't really after such a feat.

"Breaking the record is just a side effect of our work in preparing our high performance computer infrastructure for work in research and development," said Thomas Keller, the lead researcher and a computer scientist at the University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons in Chur, Switzerland. For the record, the group calculated that extensive piece of pi in about 108 days – roughly one-third of the time it took the previous record-holders to set their mark just last year, with 50 trillion digits.

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