PI Constant in C++

By Animisha Dalal

In this tutorial, we will learn how to use the PI constant in C++.

PI is a mathematical constant which we use in various mathematical calculations ranging from simple finding area of a circle to more complex Stoke’s theorem in mathematics. C++ has a predefined constant in its math library which we can use to access the value of pi wherever needed in our program.

We use the following header file :

#define _USE_MATH_DEFINES
#include <cmath>

Here, _USE_MATH_DEFINES is a #define macro. Later in the program, we use M_PI to access the value of PI. In C++, the value of M_PI is 3.14159265358979323846.

Below I write a simple program to print the value of PI.

Print the value of PI in C++

#define _USE_MATH_DEFINES
#include<cmath>
#include<iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
  cout << "value of pi is = " << M_PI << endl;
  return 0;
}

Output:

value of pi is = 3.14159

Now that we know how to use the constant, let’s find out the volume of a sphere with radius r. In this program, we use the formula for the volume of a sphere which is 4/3 π r^3.

Program to find the volume of a sphere in C++

#define _USE_MATH_DEFINES
#include<cmath>
#include<iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
  int r;
  float v;
  cout << "Enter the value of radius : ";
  cin >> r;
  v = float(4) / float(3) * M_PI * r * r * r;
  cout << "volume of the sphere is : " << v << endl;
  return 0;
}

Output :

Enter the value of radius : 4
volume of the sphere is : 268.083

You can also always define your own value of pi and use it in a program.

Set Value of PI constant in C++

#include<iostream>
using namespace std;
const double PI = 3.141592653589793238463;    //value of pi
int main()
{
  cout << "value of pi is : " << PI;
}

Output :

value of pi is = 3.14159

Hope this was helpful. Enjoy Coding!

Also read :

Vector erase() and clear() in C++

One response to “PI Constant in C++”

1. Lewis Gustavo Mathonsi says:

   February 10, 2021 at 3:17 am

   yeah, the display in examples was highly clear…

   Reply