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A degree (in full, a degree of arc, arc degree, or arcdegree), usually denoted by ° (the degree symbol), is a measurement of a plane angle in which one full rotation is 360 degrees. [4] It is not an SI unit—the SI unit of angular measure is the radian—but it is mentioned in the SI brochure as an accepted unit. [5]
The Babylonian system of mathematics was a sexagesimal (base 60) numeral system.From this we derive the modern-day usage of 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and 360 degrees in a circle. [8]
A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol ′, is a unit of angular measurement equal to 1 / 60 of one degree. [1] Since one degree is 1 / 360 of a turn, or complete rotation, one arcminute is 1 / 21 600 of a turn.
One hour of time is divided into 60 minutes, and one minute is divided into 60 seconds. Thus, a measurement of time such as 3:23:17 (3 hours, 23 minutes, and 17 seconds) can be interpreted as a whole sexagesimal number (no sexagesimal point), meaning 3 × 60 2 + 23 × 60 1 + 17 × 60 0 seconds.
Degrees, therefore, are subdivided as follows: 360 degrees (°) in a full circle; 60 arc-minutes (′) in one degree; 60 arc-seconds (″) in one arc-minute; To put this in perspective, the full Moon as viewed from Earth is about 1 ⁄ 2 °, or 30 ′ (or 1800″). The Moon's motion across the sky can be measured in angular size: approximately ...
Earth rotates once in about 24 hours with respect to the Sun, but once every 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds with respect to other distant stars . Earth's rotation is slowing slightly with time; thus, a day was shorter in the past. This is due to the tidal effects the Moon has on Earth's rotation.
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The angle is typically measured in degrees from the mark of number 12 clockwise. The time is usually based on a 12-hour clock. A method to solve such problems is to consider the rate of change of the angle in degrees per minute. The hour hand of a normal 12-hour analogue clock turns 360° in 12 hours (720 minutes) or 0.5° per minute.