pi

The mathematical constant pi (\(π\)) equals (roughly) 3.1415926559.

pi()

\(π\) is the ratio between the circumference and diameter of a circle. This ratio is shared by all circles, no matter the size.

\(π\) can be used to calculate the circumference and area of a circle, volume and surface area of a sphere, and more.

You can learn more about \(π\) here:

Prehistoric Calculus: Discovering Pi – BetterExplained
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pi() * 10 /* 31.41592653589793 */

The above formula will calculate the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 10cm. It uses the simple equation \(πd\), where \(d\) is the diameter of the circle.

In this case, the circumference would be approximately \(31.4159265cm\).

In this example database, the Formula (num) property calculates the area of a circle with a given radius, set in the Circle Radius (cm) property.

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pi() * prop("Circle Radius (cm)") ^ 2

The formula to calculate the area inside a circle is \(πr^2\). We can create this equation in a Notion formula using the code above:

  • pi is the Notion constant for \(π\)
  • prop("Circle Radius (cm)") uses the prop() function to pull in the value of the Circle Radius (cm) Number property
  • ^ 2 squares the radius of the circle

Other formula components used in this example:

multiply – Thomas Frank
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pow – Thomas Frank
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format(round(prop("Formula (num)") * 100) / 100) + "cm²"

This formula:

  1. Intakes the output of the previous formula
  2. Rounds it to the nearest hundredth (i.e. two decimal places)
  3. Converts the resulting number to a String
  4. Appends “cm²”

Note that Notion formulas do not support text formatting, so I’m using the actual ² symbol. You can find this symbol here:

⬛❒▣²³ Square symbol, text box symbol (copy and paste)
Find out how to type mathematical number power notation like ² and ³ and square box symbols directly from your keyboard whether you’re on Windows, Mac, or Linux. You can put them in Facebook, Instagram Youtube, etc. Box text signs. Alt codes and more.
fsymbols.com

To round the decimal to two decimal places, I use the following trick:

round(prop("Formula (num)")*100)/100

Notion’s built-in round() function only rounds numbers to the nearest whole integer. But this trick will output a rounded number to two decimals places instead. Learn more about this trick in the round function reference.

Other formula components used in this example:

multiply – Thomas Frank
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divide – Thomas Frank
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round – Thomas Frank
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format – Thomas Frank
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add – Thomas Frank
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About the Author

My name is Thomas Frank, and I'm a Notion-certified writer, YouTuber, and template creator. I've been using Notion since 2018 to organize my personal life and to run my business and YouTube channel. In addition to this formula reference, I've created a free Notion course for beginners and several productivity-focused Notion templates. If you'd like to connect, follow me on Twitter.

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Fill out the form below and I’ll answer as soon as I can! ~Thomas