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    RADIANS

    Math & Trig

    Converts an angle from degrees to radians.

    Translations
    EnglishRADIANS
    FrenchRADIANS
    SpanishRADIANES
    GermanBOGENMASS
    ItalianRADIANTI
    PortugueseRADIANOS
    DutchRADIALEN
    PolishRADIANY
    RussianРАДИАНЫ
    TurkishRADYAN
    CzechRADIANS
    HungarianRADIÁN
    SwedishRADIANER
    DanishRADIANER
    FinnishRADIAANIT
    Syntax
    RADIANS(angle)

    Arguments

    • angleThe angle in degrees to convert
    Examples
    =RADIANS(180)
    3.14159

    180 degrees equals PI radians

    =RADIANS(90)
    1.5708

    90 degrees equals PI/2 radians

    =RADIANS(360)
    6.2832

    Full circle equals 2*PI radians

    Tips & Best Practices
    • •Use before SIN(), COS(), TAN() if your angle is in degrees
    • •Example: =SIN(RADIANS(45)) for the sine of 45 degrees
    • •Inverse of DEGREES()
    Common Mistakes
    • •Forgetting that most trigonometric functions in Excel (like SIN, COS, TAN) expect their angle argument in radians, not degrees - passing a raw degree value without converting it first produces an incorrect result
    • •Confusing the direction of conversion with DEGREES - RADIANS converts degrees to radians, while DEGREES does the opposite, and mixing them up doubles the error instead of canceling it out
    • •Applying RADIANS to a value that's already in radians, expecting no change - RADIANS always assumes the input is in degrees and converts it, so applying it to a radian value produces a meaningless result
    Related Functions
    DEGREESPerforms the reverse conversion - converts radians into degrees, the more human-readable unit for describing angles.
    SINExpects its angle argument in radians, so RADIANS is often used beforehand to convert a degree value into the expected input format.
    PIFrequently appears alongside RADIANS in manual angle conversions, since radians are naturally expressed as fractions or multiples of pi.
    Frequently Asked Questions

    Why do I need RADIANS before using SIN or COS?

    Excel's trigonometric functions expect angles in radians, not degrees. If your angle is in degrees, wrap it in RADIANS first, like SIN(RADIANS(45)).

    What's the difference between RADIANS and DEGREES?

    They convert in opposite directions - RADIANS turns degrees into radians, while DEGREES turns radians into degrees.

    Can I convert degrees to radians without using the RADIANS function?

    Yes, by multiplying the degree value by PI()/180, which is mathematically what RADIANS does internally - the function is just a clearer shorthand.

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