Skip to content

How-to guide

How to Calculate Diagonal of Rectangle: Formula, Steps & Examples

Learn how to calculate Diagonal of Rectangle — the formula explained step by step, with worked examples and a free calculator to check your answer.

By Vikram Iyer, M.Sc Mathematics · Updated Jun 2026 · 1 min read

Calculating your diagonal is straightforward once you know the Diagonal of Rectangle formula and what each input means. This guide explains the method in plain language, walks through a manual calculation, and gives worked examples you can follow — then you can do it instantly with the Diagonal of Rectangle Calculator.

What is Diagonal of Rectangle?

The Diagonal of Rectangle calculation tells you your diagonal from a few simple inputs. The figure you are solving for here is the diagonal.

The Diagonal of Rectangle formula

The core formula is:

Diagonal = √(Length ^ 2 + Width ^ 2)

Here is what each input means:

  • Length — a number. Example: 3.
  • Width — a number. Example: 4.

How to calculate it step by step

  • Write down the length (for example, 3).
  • Write down the width (for example, 4).
  • Apply the formula above to get your diagonal.
  • Double-check the result with the Diagonal of Rectangle Calculator.

Worked examples

Example 1

Input / OutputValue
Length3
Width4
Diagonal5.0000

With length of 3 and width of 4, the diagonal works out to 5.0000.

Example 2

With length of 6 and width of 4, the diagonal works out to 7.2111.

ResultValue
Diagonal7.2111

Example 3

With length of 1.5 and width of 4, the diagonal works out to 4.2720.

ResultValue
Diagonal4.2720

Tips for an accurate result

  • Keep your units consistent — mixing, say, months with years or grams with kilograms is the most common source of error.
  • Round only at the very end. Rounding inputs early can shift the final answer noticeably.
  • Re-run the numbers whenever an input changes, rather than estimating from an old result.

Prefer not to do the maths by hand? — the Diagonal of Rectangle Calculator does it instantly, for free, with the formula and a worked example built in.

Continue exploring math calculators with these tools: Margin of Error Calculator, Sample Size Calculator, Confidence Interval Calculator, Coefficient of Variation Calculator, Regular Heptagon Area Calculator.

Calculators in this guide

Frequently asked questions

The formula is: Diagonal = √(Length ^ 2 + Width ^ 2). With length of 3 and width of 4, the diagonal works out to 5.0000.

Gather each input, apply the formula step by step keeping your units consistent, and round only at the end. You can verify your answer instantly with the Diagonal of Rectangle Calculator.

It uses the standard formula with exact arithmetic, so the result is correct for the inputs you enter. Bear in mind that real-world outcomes can still differ when underlying assumptions change.

Vikram Iyer · M.Sc Mathematics

Vikram Iyer is a mathematics educator with over fifteen years of teaching experience, specialising in making quantitative concepts clear and practical for everyday use.