pi - Thomas Frank

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

pi()
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

\(π\) 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

betterexplained.com

Example Formula

pi() * 10 /* 31.41592653589793 */
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

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 \(31.4159265cm\).

Example Database

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.

View and Duplicate Database

“Formula (Num)” Property Formula

pi() * prop("Circle Radius (cm)") ^ 2
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

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:

“Pretty Formula” Property Formula

format(round(prop("Formula (num)") * 100) / 100) + "cm²"
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

This formula:

Intakes the output of the previous formula
Rounds it to the nearest hundredth (i.e. two decimal places)
Converts the resulting number to a String
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
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

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.