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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]
One radian is defined as the angle at the center of a circle in a plane that subtends an arc whose length equals the radius of the circle. [6] More generally, the magnitude in radians of a subtended angle is equal to the ratio of the arc length to the radius of the circle; that is, =, where θ is the magnitude in radians of the subtended angle, s is arc length, and r is radius.
[18] [19] Today, the degree, 1 / 360 of a turn, or the mathematically more convenient radian, 1 / 2 π of a turn (used in the SI system of units) is generally used instead. In the 1970s – 1990s, most scientific calculators offered the gon (gradian), as well as radians and degrees, for their trigonometric functions. [23]
Fractions of a degree may be written in normal decimal notation (e.g., 3.5° for three and a half degrees), but the "minute" and "second" sexagesimal subunits of the "degree–minute–second" system (discussed next) are also in use, especially for geographical coordinates and in astronomy and ballistics (n = 360) arcminute: 21,600: 0°1′
The trigonometric functions rely on angles, and mathematicians generally use radians as units of measurement. π plays an important role in angles measured in radians, which are defined so that a complete circle spans an angle of 2 π radians. The angle measure of 180° is equal to π radians, and 1° = π /180 radians. [160]
The binary degree, also known as the binary radian (or brad), is 1 / 256 turn. [21] The binary degree is used in computing so that an angle can be represented to the maximum possible precision in a single byte. Other measures of angle used in computing may be based on dividing one whole turn into 2 n equal parts for other values of n. [22]
Solid angles can also be measured in square degrees (1 sr = (180/ π) 2 square degrees), in square arc-minutes and square arc-seconds, or in fractions of the sphere (1 sr = 1 / 4 π fractional area), also known as spat (1 sp = 4 π sr). In spherical coordinates there is a formula for the differential,
provided the angle is measured in radians. Angles measured in degrees must first be converted to radians by multiplying them by / . These approximations have a wide range of uses in branches of physics and engineering, including mechanics, electromagnetism, optics, cartography, astronomy, and computer science.