
This relationship is expressed in the following circumference of a circle formula:, where is the diameter and is the radius.Ĭircumference, diameter and radii are measured in linear units, such as inches and centimeters. Thus, the diameter of a circle is twice as long as the radius. If you place two radii end-to-end in a circle, you would have the same length as one diameter. The radius of a circle is the distance from the center of a circle to any point on the circle. This second formula for finding the circumference is commonly used in problems where the diameter is given and the circumference is not known (see the examples below). Another way to write this formula is: where

If you measure the circumference and the diameter of the plate and then divide by, your quotient should come close to. You can test this formula at home with a round dinner plate. This relationship is expressed in the following formula: Thus, for any circle, if you divide the circumference by the diameter, you get a value close to.

is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter. The distance across a circle through the center is called the diameter.

The distance around a circle is called the circumference. However, using computers, has been calculated to over 1 trillion digits past the decimal point. We use the Greek letter (pronounced Pi) to represent this value. If you measure the distance around a circle and divide it by the distance across the circle through the center, you will always come close to a particular value, depending upon the accuracy of your measurement. The circle to the left is called circle A since the center is at point A. A circle is a shape with all points the same distance from the center.
