Pi
✖
Pi
Details

- Mathematical constant treated as numeric by NumericQ and as a constant by D.
- Pi can be evaluated to any numerical precision using N.
- Pi can be entered in StandardForm and InputForm as π,
pi
,
p
or \[Pi].
- In StandardForm, Pi is printed as π.
Background & Context
- Pi is the symbol representing the mathematical constant
, which can also be input as ∖[Pi]. Pi is defined as the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter and has numerical value
. Pi arises in many mathematical computations including trigonometric expressions, special function values, sums, products, and integrals as well as in formulas from a wide range of mathematical and scientific fields.
- When Pi is used as a symbol, it is propagated as an exact quantity. While many expressions involving Pi (e.g. Cos[Pi/10]) are automatically expanded in terms of simpler functions, expansion and simplification of more complicated expressions involving Pi (e.g. Cos[Pi/15]) may require use of functions such as FunctionExpand and FullSimplify.
- Pi is known to be both irrational and transcendental, meaning it can be expressed neither as a ratio of integers nor as the root of any integer polynomial. While it is not known if Pi is normal (meaning the digits in its base-
expansion are equally distributed) to any base, its known digits are very uniformly distributed.
- Pi can be evaluated to arbitrary numerical precision by means of the Chudnovsky formula using N. In fact, calculating the first million decimal digits of Pi takes only a fraction of a second on a modern desktop computer. RealDigits can be used to return a list of digits of Pi and ContinuedFraction to obtain terms of its continued fraction expansion.
- Most angle-related functions in the Wolfram Language take radian measures as their arguments and return radian measures as results. The symbol Degree, which is equal to Pi/180, can therefore be used as a multiplier when entering values in degree measures (e.g. Cos[30 Degree]).
Examples
open allclose allBasic Examples (3)Summary of the most common use cases
Scope (1)Survey of the scope of standard use cases
Applications (5)Sample problems that can be solved with this function
In[1]:=1

✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0obfs-c759ou
Out[1]=1

The first 20 digits of in base 10:
In[1]:=1

✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0obfs-bg0
Out[1]=1

In[1]:=1

✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0obfs-y42
Out[1]=1

Trigonometric functions have arguments in radians:
In[1]:=1

✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0obfs-i82
Out[1]=1

Many mathematical functions and operations give results involving π:
In[1]:=1

✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0obfs-mpi
Out[1]=1

In[2]:=2

✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0obfs-ing
Out[2]=2

Properties & Relations (2)Properties of the function, and connections to other functions
Various symbolic relations are automatically used:
In[1]:=1

✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0obfs-rq8
Out[1]=1

In[2]:=2

✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0obfs-qu4
Out[2]=2

Pi is treated as a constant in differentiation:
In[1]:=1

✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0obfs-9l
Out[1]=1

Wolfram Research (1988), Pi, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Pi.html (updated 1996).
✖
Wolfram Research (1988), Pi, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Pi.html (updated 1996).
Text
Wolfram Research (1988), Pi, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Pi.html (updated 1996).
✖
Wolfram Research (1988), Pi, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Pi.html (updated 1996).
CMS
Wolfram Language. 1988. "Pi." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 1996. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Pi.html.
✖
Wolfram Language. 1988. "Pi." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 1996. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Pi.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (1988). Pi. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Pi.html
✖
Wolfram Language. (1988). Pi. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Pi.html
BibTeX
✖
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_pi, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Pi}", year="1996", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Pi.html}", note=[Accessed: 03-May-2025
]}
BibLaTeX
✖
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_pi, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Pi}, year={1996}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Pi.html}, note=[Accessed: 03-May-2025
]}