Area of a circle Area of a circle In geometry, the area enclosed by a circle of radius is . Here the Greek letter represents a constant, approximately equal to 3.14159, which is equal to the ratio of the circumference of any circle to its diameter. One method of deriving this formula, which originated with Archimedes, involves viewing the circle as the limit of a sequence of regular polygons. The area of a regular polygon is half its perimeter multiplied by the distance from its center to its sides, and the corresponding formula (that the area is half the perimeter times the radius, i.e.
Circle of a sphere the Equator the only great circle. By contrast, all meridians of longitude, paired with their opposite meridian in the other hemisphere, form great circles. The diameter of the sphere which passes through the center of the circle is called its axis and the endpoints of this diameter are called its poles. A circle of a sphere can also be defined as the set of points at a given angular distance from a given pole. When the intersection of a sphere and a plane is not empty or a single point, it is a circle. This can be seen as follows: