AN 11-year-old girl memorised the first 301 numbers of Pi in just three nights.

Alexa McTiffin, from Grindleton, set herself the challenge after hearing a student in the senior school pupil had recited 300 numbers of the mathematical calculation for charity.

The Westholme Lower Junior School pupil decided to test her memory after her teacher Jayne Shipley set the class homework to carry out mental arithmetic or a memory challenge.

The class would them have to recite what they had remembered three days later.

Using a common rhyme to remember the first 15 digits Alexa then broke the numbers down into 10 to 15 number chunks to memorise the sequences.

After being set the homework on Monday by Tuesday she had already memorised 150 numbers by heart.

Then by Thursday she could confident recite all 301 numbers she had learnt.

Headteacher of the lower girls junior school Carol Laverick said her class sat amazed by her achievement as she recited all the numbers.

She said: “Alexa is a very bright girl with an exceptional memory.”

Pensioner Michael Poultney praised Alexa’s efforts to memorise 301 digits of Pi in just three days.

The former teacher at St Mary’s College, Blackburn, previously held the world record for reciting from memory the decimal expansion of Pi. Mr Poultney said: “She has done very well. I think she should be proud.”

In 1974 he recited 3,025 places and then extended it to 5,050 places in 1977, earning him a place in the Guinness Book of Records from 1976 to 1979.

How it adds up

Pi is a mathematical term whose value is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter.
Many formulae from mathematics, science, and engineering involve Pi, which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants.
The value of Pi cannot be expressed exactly as a fraction and the current record for the decimal expansion stands at five trillion digits.