Pi

π=3.141592653589793\pi = 3.141592653589793
Value3.141592653589793
StatusExact by definition — no uncertainty
SourceNIST
CategoriesMathematical

Learning zone

π is defined, not measured, so it has no uncertainty; the value stored here is the nearest IEEE-754 double to the true constant, correct to about 16 significant figures, which is more than enough to compute the circumference of the observable universe to within the width of a hydrogen atom. Archimedes squeezed it between 223/71 and 22/7 around 250 BC using inscribed and circumscribed 96-gons, and the method he invented — trap the answer between two computable bounds and tighten — is the ancestor of the whole idea of a limit.

Johann Lambert proved π irrational in 1761, but the decisive result came in 1882, when Ferdinand von Lindemann proved it transcendental: it satisfies no polynomial equation with rational coefficients. That single theorem closed a problem that had been open for 2000 years. Squaring the circle — constructing, with compass and straightedge alone, a square equal in area to a given circle — requires constructing √π, and constructible numbers are all algebraic. Lindemann's proof did not merely show that nobody had yet succeeded; it showed that nobody ever could, and the Paris Academy had already stopped accepting submissions on the problem by then out of sheer exhaustion.

Used by 28 solvers

Annulus Area (Ring)

A=π(R2−r2)A = \pi (R^2 - r^2)

Arc Length

s=rθs = r \theta

Area of a Circle

A=πr2A = \pi r^{2}

Circumference of a Circle

C=2πrC = 2 \pi r

Cone Frustum Volume (Truncated Cone)

V=πh3(R2+Rr+r2)V = \frac{\pi h}{3}\left(R^2 + Rr + r^2\right)

Cone Lateral Surface Area

A=πrlA = \pi r l

Cone Total Surface Area

A=πr(r+l)A = \pi r (r + l)

Cone Volume

V=13πr2hV = \frac{1}{3} \pi r^{2} h

Cylinder Lateral Surface Area

A=2πrhA = 2\pi r h

Cylinder Surface Area

S=2πr2+2πrhS = 2 \pi r^{2} + 2 \pi r h

Cylinder Volume

V=πr2hV = \pi r^{2} h

Disc Clutch Torque (Uniform Wear)

T=Nπμpari(ro2−ri2)T = N \pi \mu p_{a} r_{i} \left( r_{o}^{2} - r_{i}^{2} \right)

Ellipse Area

A=πabA = \pi a b

Ellipse Perimeter (Ramanujan Approximation)

P≈π[3(a+b)−(3a+b)(a+3b)]P \approx \pi \left[ 3(a+b) - \sqrt{(3a+b)(a+3b)} \right]

Ellipsoid Volume

V=43πabcV = \frac{4}{3}\pi a b c

Helical Spring Shear Stress (with the Wahl Factor)

τ=KW8FDπd3\tau = K_{W} \frac{8 F D}{\pi d^{3}}

Hemisphere Total Surface Area

A=3πr2A = 3\pi r^2

Hemisphere Volume

V=23πr3V = \frac{2}{3}\pi r^3

Hertzian Contact Pressure, Sphere on a Flat

p0=6FE∗2π3R23p_{0} = \sqrt[3]{\frac{6 F E^{*2}}{\pi^{3} R^{2}}}

Petroff's Equation (Journal Bearing Friction Torque)

Tf=4π2μNr3LcT_f = \frac{4 \pi^{2} \mu N r^{3} L}{c}

Power Screw Lowering Torque and Self-Locking

TL=Fdm2(πμdm−lπdm+μl)T_{L} = \frac{F d_{m}}{2} \left( \frac{\pi \mu d_{m} - l}{\pi d_{m} + \mu l} \right)

Power Screw Raising Torque (Square Thread)

TR=Fdm2(l+πμdmπdm−μl)T_{R} = \frac{F d_{m}}{2} \left( \frac{l + \pi \mu d_{m}}{\pi d_{m} - \mu l} \right)

Regular Polygon Area (from Side Length)

A=ns24tan⁡(π/n)A = \frac{n s^2}{4 \tan(\pi/n)}

Speed in Circular Motion (v = 2πr/T)

v=2πrTv = \frac{2\pi r}{T}

Sphere Surface Area

S=4πr2S = 4 \pi r^{2}

Sphere Volume

V=43πr3V = \frac{4}{3} \pi r^{3}

Spherical Cap Volume

V=πh23(3R−h)V = \frac{\pi h^2}{3}(3R - h)

Thread Tensile Stress Area

At=π4(d−ktp)2A_{t} = \frac{\pi}{4} \left( d - k_{t} p \right)^{2}