Do you need to Convert Degrees to Radians in your Excel Report or dashboard?

This article will show you all the different methods that can help you to convert Degrees to Radians in Excel.

The default arguments for the Excel in-built trigonometric functions SIN(), COS(), and TAN() functions are radians. If the angle is in degrees, you must first convert it to radians and use these functions. Also, the ASIN(), ACOS() and ATAN() functions return radians values.

The measurement of an angle can be performed in either the radian measure or the degree measure. Also, you can define a relation between these two, convert from radian measure to degree measure and vice versa.

Both the measurements are used in geometry and trigonometry in solving many problems. The degree measure is used in general, which is easy to understand and remember. Radians are a more natural unit of measure for angles. Radians are more convenient to use in calculations than degrees.

In this article, you will learn what is the radian measure of angle and how to convert degrees to radians in Excel.

What are Radian Measurements?

Radian measurements are an angular unit of measure used in mathematics and physics. It is the angle subtended by an arc of a circle with length equal to the radius of that circle. A radian is equal to approximately 57.3 degrees, or (2π/360) radians per degree. Radian measurements are

Radians measure angles by the length of the arc of a circle, rather than the number of degrees around the circle. The length of an arc of a circle and the radius of the circle are the same, and it makes an angle of 1 radian.

One degree is π/180 rad; Pi (π) value = 3.1415

180 degrees is the same as π radians. To change from degrees to radians, you can multiply the number of degrees by π/180.

For example, Suppose you are asked to calculate the arc length of a circle of radius 10 with a central angle of 60 degrees, you can convert 60 degrees to radians, which is equal to π/3 radians, and then use the formula  π/3 x 10 = 10π/3 to calculate arc length.

You do not need to write the degree sign when you write your answer because it will already be in radians. The symbol used to represent radian measure is the letter rad.

This blog post explores how to convert degrees to radians in Excel using the RADIAN and PI functions.

If you are working with multiple data files or large data sets you can use either Power Query or Power Pivot method. Finally, you will learn the VBA and Office Scripts methods to convert Degree to Radian in Excel for your dashboard or report automation projects.

Suppose you have the angle data in degree in Column B and need it to convert to radian measure in Column C for further analysis.

Get your copy of the example workbook used in this post to follow along!

Convert Degrees to Radians in Excel with RADIANS function

Excel in-built RADIANS function converts angles from degrees to radians. You can use this function in your Excel to convert the degrees measure to radians measure.

RADIANS( angle ) 

It converts degrees to radians

Type the formula =RADIANS( B2 ) in cell C2, and then Press Enter. Drag the fill handle to the range C2:C14 to copy the formula.

RADIANS function in the above formula converts the degrees in column B to radians in column C.

Convert Degrees to Radians with PI function

To convert from degrees to radians, multiply the number of degrees by π/180. You can use the Excel PI function in the formula to convert degrees to radians.

Type the formula =B2 * PI() / 180 in cell C2, and then Press Enter. Drag the fill handle to the range C2:C14 to copy the formula.

PI function returns the constant value 3.1415. The above formula multiplies the B2 value by the PI value and then divides it by 180.

Convert Degrees to Radians with POWER PIVOT

Excel Power Pivot is an extremely efficient data analysis and modeling tool. You can make complex models, pivot tables, charts, and reports. Also, you can create connections between different tables, calculated columns and datasets. Power Pivot allows you to easily manipulate and analyze large amounts of data.

Please follow the below steps to convert degrees to radians using Power Pivot.

1. Select the range of cells A1:B14 and press the command Add to Data Model in the Power Pivot Tab.

2. Rename the table name PPData, and column Header Radians in the Power Pivot editor. Select the third column, type the formula =RADIANS( PPDATA[Degree] ), and press Enter.

3. Select the Flattened PivotTable option in the PivotTable command.
4. You will have options to select the New Worksheet or Existing worksheet and select the worksheet location.  Once you select the worksheet and press the OK button, Excel adds an empty pivot table in the worksheet. 

5. You can drag the RecordID, Degree, and Radians fields in the Rows Area and see the degrees in column B are converted to radians in column C.

Convert Degrees to Radians with POWER QUERY

Excel Power Query is useful for Extracting, Transforming and Loading data in Excel. It allows you to interact with a variety of data sources such as databases, text files, and other spreadsheets. In addition, it helps you to clean, modify, process and format connected data for reporting and analysis. It saves the time and effort involved in preparing data for analysis. Power Query offers a number of ways to customize data based on specific needs, such as filtering, sorting, and grouping.

Steps to convert degrees to radians using Power Query.

1. Select the range of cells A1:B14 in the Data Sheet
2. Choose the option From Table/Range option in Data Tab – to open the Power Query window

3. Rename the query name POWERQUERY, and select the command Custom Column in the Add Column Tab – to open the Custom Column dialog box.

4. Type the name Radians in the New column name box
5. Type the formula =[Degree] * Number.PI / 180 in the Custom column formula input box, and Press the OK button.

6. Select the command Close & Load and Press Close & Load To… – to popup Import Data dialog box.

1. In the Import Data dialog box, select the Table option, and click the option New worksheet to insert the transformed Power Query table into a new worksheet.

Convert Degrees to Radians with VBA

Excel Visual Basic for Applications is a programming language. It allows you to automate tasks in Microsoft Excel. You can perform spreadsheet calculations and manipulate data by creating scripts and recording macros. Also, you have options to use the for loop to loop through the range of cells and use worksheet functions.

Sub ConvertDegreesToRadians()

' Declare variable
Dim rge As Range

' Assign range of cells
Set rge = Sheets("VBA").Range("B2:B14")

' loop through each cell in the range B2:B14
For Each rg In rge

    ' Multiply the current Value by the constant PI, then divide by 180. 
    ' Store the result to the adjacent cell
    rg.Offset(0, 1).Value = rg.Value * Application.WorksheetFunction.Pi / 180

Next

End Sub

Add the above code to your module in the visual basic editor.

This Macro script first declares the variable rge, Assign the range of cells B2:B14 to the variable rge, where the degrees are stored in Excel. The For Each syntax loop through the range of cells B2:B14. In each iteration, the script multiplies the cell value by PI, and then divides by 180. In the formula Application.WorksheetFunction.Pi is return the PI value 3.1415. Finally, the script uses the offset function to select the respective row and column to store the radian value.

To Run the ConvertDegreesToRadians macro

Press Alt + F8, it is a shortcut key to open the Macro dialog box, Select the ConvertDegreesToRadians Macro in the Macro list, and then Press Run.

Convert Degrees to Radians with Office Scripts

Office Scripts in Excel works on both the web and desktop. It can help you to automate repetitive tasks, create charts, format cells, and more. You can easily record your actions, debug the recorded script and run them at any time. Office Scripts also make it easier for you to collaborate with colleagues and update spreadsheets.

function main(workbook: ExcelScript.Workbook) {

    // Assign the worksheet, data range and number of rows in the range to the respective variables
    let wSheet = workbook.getWorksheet("OfficeScripts");
    let rg = wSheet.getRange("B2:B14");
    let rCnt = rg.getRowCount();

    // Loop through the range of cells B2:B14
    for ( let i = 0; i < rCnt; i++ ) {

        // Get current cell value and store it in the variable celValue as a number
        let celValue = rg.getCell( i, 0 ).getValue() as number

        // Multiply the celValue by the constant Math.PI, then divide by 180. Set the result to adjacent cell
        rg.getCell( i, 1 ).setValue( celValue * Math.PI / 180);

    }
}

Add the above code to the Code Editor and then press the Save button.

The above script assigns the worksheet OfficeScripts, the range of cells B2:B14, and the number of rows in the range to the respective variables. You used the for loop to loop through the range of cells B2:B14 and each iteration assigns the current cell value to the variable celValue. Next steps, the celValue multiply by Math.PI, which is a constant value 3.1415, and then divide by 180. Finally, store the radians value in the adjacent cell.

To Run the Convert Degrees to Radians Office scripts Select your script Convert Degrees to Radians from the Office Scripts drop-down items in Automate menu and press the Run button

Conclusions

An angle is a measure of rotation and can be measured in either degrees or radians. It is possible to determine a relationship between degrees and radians and convert one to the other.

Converting degrees to radians in Excel is an easy method to use the RADIANS function. You can use the PI function to multiply by degrees and divide by 180 in your formula to convert.

If you are working with large data files or multiple data source files, you should consider using Power Query or Power Pivot. If you need to convert degrees to radians to your report automation or dashboard projects, VBA or Office scripts are the way to go

If you know any other method to Convert Degree measure to Radian measure in Excel, let us know in the comment section!