The ceil() function is an alias for the ceiling() method and rounds to the smallest integer equal to or above the provided number.
ceiling Function in R
The ceiling() is an a built-in mathematical R function that returns the smallest integer that is greater than or equal to the value passed to it as an argument. The ceiling() function rounds up to the nearest integer.
Syntax
ceiling(x)
Parameters
The ceiling() function accepts one parameter whose value needs to be rounded off.
- If the x parameter is a positive or negative numeric value, the ceiling function returns the ceiling value.
- If it is a positive or negative Zero value, the ceiling(,) function returns Zero.
- If the x is Not a Number (NaN), then the ceiling returns NaN.
- If the x is positive or negative infinity, the function returns the same as the input.
Example
dice <- ceiling(1.9)
ace <- ceiling(2.1)
club <- ceiling(4.5)
print(dice)
print(ace)
print(club)
Output
[1] 2
[1] 3
[1] 5
From the output, you can see that ceiling() function rounding up 1.9 to 2, 2.1 to 3, and 4.5 to 5.
Passing negative values to ceiling() function
Let’s pass the negative arguments to the ceiling() function in R.
dice <- ceiling(-1.9)
ace <- ceiling(-2.1)
club <- ceiling(-4.5)
print(dice)
print(ace)
print(club)
Output
[1] -1
[1] -2
[1] -4
Ceiling value of an expression
Let’s pass the numeric expression to the ceil() function and see the output.
joker <- ceiling(0.8 + 12.45 - 20.3 + 333)
print(joker)
Output
[1] 326
Applying ceiling() function on R Vectors
To find the ceil values of vectors in R, use the ceiling() function. The ceiling() function returns the ceiling value of each element of the vector.
hearts <- c(-21.19, 46.21, -11.10, -9.11, -0.123)
ceiling(hearts)
Output
[1] -21 47 -11 -9 0
Applying ceiling() function on R List
To find the ceiling value of each element of R List, access elements one by one and pass that element to the ceiling() function, and it will return the ceiling value of the R List.
diamond <- list(10.21, 11.21, 19.21, 29.10)
ceiling(diamond[[1]])
ceiling(diamond[[2]])
ceiling(diamond[[3]])
ceiling(diamond[[4]])
Output
[1] 11
[1] 12
[1] 20
[1] 30
Conclusion
R ceiling() function returns the smallest integer value, which is greater than or equal to a specific number.
That is it for this tutorial.
See also

Krunal Lathiya is an Information Technology Engineer by education and web developer by profession. He has worked with many back-end platforms, including Node.js, PHP, and Python. In addition, Krunal has excellent knowledge of Data Science and Machine Learning, and he is an expert in R Language. Krunal has written many programming blogs, which showcases his vast expertise in this field.