Explanation
In geometry, the standard formula for calculating the surface area of a cylinder is:
In essence, this formula first calculates the area of the side of the cylinder, based on the circumference of the circle times the height of the cylinder, then adds two times the area of circle to account for the ends of the cylinder.
The Greek letter π (“pi”) represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. In Excel, π is represented in a formula with the PI function , which returns the number 3.14159265358979, accurate to 15 digits:
=PI() // returns 3.14159265358979
To square a number in Excel, you can use the exponentiation operator (^):
=A1^2
Or, you can use the POWER function :
=POWER(A1,2)
Rewriting the formula for volume of a cylinder with Excel’s math operators , we get:
=2*PI()*B5*C5+2*PI()*B5^2
Or, with the POWER function:
=2*PI()*B5*C5+2*PI()*POWER(B5,2)
The result is the same for both formulas. Following Excel’s order of operations , exponentiation will occur before multiplication, which will occur before addition.
Explanation
In geometry, a sphere is defined as the set of points that are all the same distance (r) from a given point in a three-dimensional space. The formula for calculating the surface area of a sphere is:
The Greek letter π (“pi”) represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. In Excel, π is represented in a formula with the PI function , which returns the number 3.14159265358979, accurate to 15 digits:
=PI() // returns 3.14159265358979
To square a number in Excel, you can use the exponentiation operator (^):
=A1^2
Or, you can use the POWER function :
=POWER(A1,2)
Rewriting the formula using Excel’s math operators we get:
=4*PI()*B5^2
Or, with the POWER function:
=4*PI()*POWER(B5,2)
For example, with a radius of 5 hardcoded into the formulas we have:
=4*PI()*5^2 // returns 314.16
=4*PI()*POWER(5,2) // returns 314.16
and both formulas return the same result. Following Excel’s order of operations , exponentiation will occur before multiplication.
