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Mathematics LibreTexts

1.1: Measuring Angles

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Measuring Angles in Degrees

The two most common units for measuring angles are degrees and radians. Degrees are based on the ancient Mesopotamian assignment of $360^{\circ}$ to a complete circle. This has its origin in the division of the horizon of the nighttime sky as the earth takes 365 days to travel around the sun. Because degrees were originally developed by the Mesopotamians, they are often also broken out into 60 unit measures of minutes and seconds. Sixty seconds make one minute and sixty minutes makes one degree.

60 seconds =1 minute or 60=1
60 minutes =1 degree or 60=12

Angles measured in degrees may also be expressed using decimal portions of a degree, for example:

72.5=7230

Converting from decimal to DMS

Converting between degrees expressed with decimals and the degrees, minutes, seconds format (DMS) is relatively simple. If you're converting from degrees expressed with decimals to DMS, simply take the portion of the angle behind the decimal point and multiply by 60. In our previous example, we would take the .5 from 72.5 and multiply this by 60:0.560=30. So, the angle in DMS units would be 7230

Examples

Convert 21.85 to DMS units

0.8560=51

So,21.85=2151

Convert 143.27to  DMS units

0.2760=16.2

So, 143.27=14316.2
In order to compute the number of seconds needed to express this angle in DMS units, we take the decimal portion of the minutes and multiply by 60:
0.260=12
So, 143.27=14316.2=1431612

In the example above we ended with a whole number of seconds. If you don'tget a whole number for the seconds then you can leave the seconds with a decimal portion. For example, if you wanted to convert 22.847 to DMS units:

22.847=2250.82=225049.2

Converting from DMS to decimal

To convert from DMS units to decimals, simply take the seconds portion and divide by 60 to make it a decimal:

1291930=12919.5

Then take the new minutes portion and divide it by 60

19.560=0.325

This is the decimal portion of the angle

1291930=12919.5=129.325

If you end up with repeating decimals in this process that's fine-just indicate the repeating portion with a bar.

Examples
Convert 42.2736 to decimal degrees
3660=0.6
422736=4227.6
27.660=0.46
4227.6=42.46
Convert 174018 to decimal degrees
1860=0.3
174018=1740.3
40.360=0.671¯6
174018=1740.3=17.671¯6

Measuring Angles in Radians

The other most commonly used method for measuring angles is radian measure. Radian measure is based on the central angle of a circle. A given central angle will trace out an arc of a particular length on the circle. The ratio of the arc length to the radius of the circle is the angle measure in radians. The benefit of radian measure is that it is based on a ratio of distances whereas degree measure is not. This allows radians to be used in calculus in situations in which degree measure would be inappropriate.

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The length of the arc intersected by the central angle is the portion of the circumference swept out by the angle along the edge of the circle. The circumference of the circle would be 2πr, so the length of the arc would be θ3602πr. The ratio of this arclength to the radius is θ1000+2πrr or

2π360θ

or in reduced form

π180θ

This assumes that the angle has been expressed in degrees to begin with. If an angle is expressed in radian measure, then to convert it into degrees, simply multiply by 180π

Examples - Degrees to Radians
Convert 60 to radians
π18060=π3
Convert 142 to radians
π180142=71π90 or 0.7¯8π
Examples - Radians to Degrees
Convert π10 to degrees
180ππ10=18
Convert π2 to degrees
180ππ2=90
Another way to convert radians to degrees is to simply replace the π with 180:
π10=18010=18
π2=1802=90

Exercises 1.1 Convert each angle measure to decimal degrees.
3.9150
1. 27×40
4 34%
\boldsymbol{\begin{tabular}{llllll} 
7. & \(17^{\circ}\) & \(25^{\prime}\) & \(5 .\) & \(274^{\circ}\) & \(18^{\prime}\) & \(6 .\) & \(165^{\circ}\) & \(48^{\prime}\) \\ 
\hline 
\end{tabular}}

10.14169
11. 2114648
12.191218
Convert each angle measure to DMS notation. 13. 31.425
14.159.84
15.6.78
16.24.5619.18.9
17.110.25
18.64.16
19.18.922.55.17
20.85.14
21. 220.43
23.70.214
24.116.32
Convert each angle measure from degrees to radians.
25.30
26.120
27.45
28.225
29.60
30.150
31.90
32.270
33.15
34.36
35.12
36.104

Convert each angle measure from radians to degrees.
37
38.π5
39.π3
40.π6
47
42.7π3
43.5π2
44.7π4
45.5π6
46.2π3
47.π
48.7π2


This page titled 1.1: Measuring Angles is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Richard W. Beveridge.

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