Euler’s Formula

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Euler’s formula, either of two important mathematical theorems of Leonhard Euler. The first formula, used in trigonometry and also called the Euler identity, says e^ix = cos x + isin x, where e is the base of the natural logarithm and i is the square root of −1 (see imaginary number). When x is equal to π or 2π, the formula yields two elegant expressions relating π, e, and i: e^iπ = −1 and e^2iπ = 1, respectively. The second, also called the Euler polyhedra formula, is a topological invariance (see topology) relating the number of faces, vertices, and edges of any polyhedron. It is written F + V = E + 2, where F is the number of faces, V the number of vertices, and E the number of edges. A cube, for example, has 6 faces, 8 vertices, and 12 edges and satisfies this formula.