Degree (angle)

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, defined so that a
full rotation is 360 degrees.
 Degree
Unit system Non-SI accepted unit

Unit of Angle

Symbol °[1][2] or deg[3] 

Conversions

1 °[1][2] in ... ... is equal to ...

1
   turns     360 turn
π
   radians     180 rad

   gons     10
9
g
One degree (shown in red) and
eighty nine degrees (shown in blue)

It is not an SI unit, as the SI unit of angular measure is

the radian, but it is mentioned in the SI brochure as an
accepted unit.[4] Because a full rotation equals 2π
π radians.
radians, one degree is equivalent to 180

History

A circle with an equilateral chord (red). One sixtieth of this arc is a

degree. Six such chords complete the circle.[5]
The original motivation for choosing the degree as a
unit of rotations and angles is unknown. One theory
states that it is related to the fact that 360 is
approximately the number of days in a year.[6] Ancient
astronomers noticed that the sun, which follows
through the ecliptic path over the course of the year,
seems to advance in its path by approximately one
degree each day. Some ancient calendars, such as the
Persian calendar, used 360 days for a year. The use of
a calendar with 360 days may be related to the use of
sexagesimal numbers.

Another theory is that the Babylonians subdivided the

circle using the angle of an equilateral triangle as the
basic unit and further subdivided the latter into 60
parts following their sexagesimal numeric system.[7][8]
The earliest trigonometry, used by the Babylonian
astronomers and their Greek successors, was based
on chords of a circle. A chord of length equal to the
radius made a natural base quantity. One sixtieth of
this, using their standard sexagesimal divisions, was a
degree.

Aristarchus of Samos and Hipparchus seem to have

been among the first Greek scientists to exploit
Babylonian astronomical knowledge and techniques
systematically.[9][10] Timocharis, Aristarchus, Aristillus,
Archimedes, and Hipparchus were the first Greeks
known to divide the circle in 360 degrees of 60 arc
minutes.[11] Eratosthenes used a simpler sexagesimal
system dividing a circle into 60 parts.
The division of the circle into 360 parts also occurred
in ancient India, as evidenced in the Rigveda:[12]

Twelve spokes, one wheel,

navels three.

Who can comprehend this?

On it are placed together
three hundred and sixty like
pegs.

They shake not in the least.

— Dirghatamas, Rigveda
1.164.48
Another motivation for choosing the number 360 may
have been that it is readily divisible: 360 has 24
divisors,[note 1] making it one of only 7 numbers such
that no number less than twice as much has more
divisors (sequence A072938 in the OEIS).[13][14]
Furthermore, it is divisible by every number from 1 to
10 except 7.[note 2] This property has many useful
applications, such as dividing the world into 24 time
zones, each of which is nominally 15° of longitude, to
correlate with the established 24-hour day
convention.

Finally, it may be the case that more than one of these

factors has come into play. According to that theory,
the number is approximately 365 because of the
apparent movement of the sun against the celestial
sphere and that it was rounded to 360 for some of
the mathematical reasons cited above.

Subdivisions
For many practical purposes, a degree is a small
enough angle that whole degrees provide sufficient
precision. When this is not the case, as in astronomy
or for geographic coordinates (latitude and
longitude), degree measurements may be written
using decimal degrees, with the degree symbol behind
the decimals; for example, 40.1875°.

Alternatively, the traditional sexagesimal unit

subdivisions can be used. One degree is divided into 60
minutes (of arc), and one minute into 60 seconds (of
arc). Use of degrees-minutes-seconds is also called
DMS notation. These subdivisions, also called the
arcminute and arcsecond, are respectively
represented by a single and double prime. For example,
40.1875° = 40° 11′ 15″, or, using quotation mark
characters, 40° 11' 15". Additional precision can be
provided using decimals for the arcseconds
component.

Maritime charts are marked in degrees and decimal

minutes to facilitate measurement; 1 minute of latitude
is 1 nautical mile. The example above would be given as
40° 11.25′ (commonly written as 11′25 or 11′.25).[15]

Alternative units
A chart to convert between degrees and radians

In most mathematical work beyond practical

geometry, angles are typically measured in radians
rather than degrees. This is for a variety of reasons;
for example, the trigonometric functions have simpler
and more "natural" properties when their arguments
are expressed in radians. These considerations
outweigh the convenient divisibility of the number
360. One complete turn (360°) is equal to 2π radians,
so 180° is equal to π radians, or equivalently, the
degree is a mathematical constant: 1° = π⁄180.

The turn (or revolution, full circle, full rotation, cycle)

is used in technology and science. One turn is equal to
360°.

With the invention of the metric system, based on

powers of ten, there was an attempt to replace
degrees by decimal "degrees"[note 3] called grad or gon,
where the number in a right angle is equal to 100 gon
with 400 gon in a full circle (1° = 10⁄9 gon). Although
that idea was abandoned by Napoleon, grades
continued to be used in several fields and many
scientific calculators support them. Decigrades
(1⁄4,000) were used with French artillery sights in World
War I.

An angular mil, which is most used in military

applications, has at least three specific variants,
ranging from 1⁄6,400 to 1⁄6,000. It is approximately equal
to one milliradian (c. 1⁄6,283). A mil measuring 1⁄6,000 of
a revolution originated in the imperial Russian army,
where an equilateral chord was divided into tenths to
give a circle of 600 units. This may be seen on a lining
plane (an early device for aiming indirect fire artillery)
dating from about 1900 in the St. Petersburg Museum
of Artillery.
Conversion of common angles
Turns Radians Degrees Gradians, or gons

0 0 0° 0g
1 π
24 12 15° 16 32 g
1 π
12 6 30° 33 31 g
1 π
10 5 36° 40g
1 π
8 4 45° 50g
1
2π 1 c. 57.3° c. 63.7g
1 π
6 3 60° 66 32 g
1 2π
5 5 72° 80g
1 π
4 2 90° 100g
1 2π
3 3 120° 133 31 g
2 4π
5 5 144° 160g
1
2 π 180° 200g
3 3π
4 2 270° 300g

1 2π 360° 400g

See also
Compass
Geographic coordinate system
Gradian
Meridian arc
 Square degree
Square minute
Square second
Steradian

Notes
1. The divisors of 360 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10,
12, 15, 18, 20, 24, 30, 36, 40, 45, 60, 72, 90, 120,
180, and 360.
2. Contrast this with the relatively unwieldy 2520,
which is the least common multiple for every
number from 1 to 10.
3. These new and decimal "degrees" must not be
confused with decimal degrees.

References
1. HP 48G Series – User's Guide (UG) (8 ed.).
Hewlett-Packard. December 1994 [1993]. HP
00048-90126, (00048-90104). Retrieved
6 September 2015.
2. HP 50g graphing calculator user's guide (UG) (1
ed.). Hewlett-Packard. 1 April 2006. HP
F2229AA-90006. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
3. HP Prime Graphing Calculator User Guide (UG)
(PDF) (1 ed.). Hewlett-Packard Development
Company, L.P. October 2014. HP 788996-001.
Archived from the original (PDF) on 3
September 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
4. Bureau International des Poid et Mesures
(2006). "The International System of Units
(SI)" (8 ed.). Archived from the original on 1
October 2009.
5. Euclid (2008). Eements. Translated by Heiberg,
Johan Ludvig; Fitzpatrick, Richard (2nd ed.).
online: Princeton UP. p. bookIV. ISBN 978-0-
6151-7984-1.
6. "Degree" . MathWorld.
7. Jeans, James Hopwood (1947). The Growth of
Physical Science . p. 7.
8. Murnaghan, Francis Dominic (1946). Analytic
Geometry. p. 2.
9. Rawlins, Dennis. "On Aristarchus" . DIO - The
International Journal of Scientific History.
10. Toomer, Gerald J. Hipparchus and Babylonian
astronomy.
11. "2 (Footnote 24)". Aristarchos Unbound:
Ancient Vision / The Hellenistic Heliocentrists'
Colossal Universe-Scale / Historians' Colossal
Inversion of Great & Phony Ancients / History-
of-Astronomy and the Moon in Retrograde!
(PDF). DIO - The International Journal of
Scientific History. 14. March 2008. p. 19.
ISSN 1041-5440 . Retrieved 16 October 2015.
12. Dirghatamas. Rigveda. pp. 1.164.48.
13. Brefeld, Werner. "Divisibility highly composite
numbers" .
14. Brefeld, Werner (2015). (not defined). Rowohlt
Verlag. pp. Not yet published.
 15. Hopkinson, Sara (2012). RYA day skipper
handbook - sail. Hamble: The Royal Yachting
Association. p. 76. ISBN 9781-9051-04949.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to

Degree (angle).

"Degrees as an angle measure" ., with interactive

animation
"Degree" . at MathWorld
Gray, Meghan; Merrifield, Michael; Moriarty, Philip
(2009). "° Degree of Angle" . Sixty Symbols. Brady
Haran for the University of Nottingham.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Degree_(angle)&oldid=916300053"

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