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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 turn (symbol tr or pla) is a unit of plane angle measurement that is the measure of a complete angle—the angle subtended by a complete circle at its center. One turn is equal to 2π radians, 360 degrees or 400 gradians. As an angular unit, one turn also corresponds to one cycle (symbol cyc or c) [1] or to one revolution (symbol rev or r). [2]
Angular diameter: the angle subtended by an object. The angular diameter, angular size, apparent diameter, or apparent size is an angular separation (in units of angle) describing how large a sphere or circle appears from a given point of view. In the vision sciences, it is called the visual angle, and in optics, it is the angular aperture (of ...
[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 ]
The concepts of degrees, minutes, and seconds—as they relate to the measure of both angles and time—derive from Babylonian astronomy and time-keeping. Influenced by the Sumerians, the ancient Babylonians divided the Sun's perceived motion across the sky over the course of one full day into 360 degrees.
A simple way to calculate the mean of a series of angles (in the interval [0°, 360°)) is to calculate the mean of the cosines and sines of each angle, and obtain the angle by calculating the inverse tangent. Consider the following three angles as an example: 10, 20, and 30 degrees.
A standard rate turn is defined as a 3° per second turn, which completes a 360° turn in 2 minutes. This is known as a 2-minute turn, or rate one (180°/min). Fast airplanes, or aircraft on certain precision approaches, use a half standard rate ('rate half' in some countries), but the definition of standard rate does not change.
The solid angle of a sphere measured from any point in its interior is 4 π sr. The solid angle subtended at the center of a cube by one of its faces is one-sixth of that, or 2 π /3 sr. The solid angle subtended at the corner of a cube (an octant) or spanned by a spherical octant is π /2 sr, one-eight of the solid angle of a sphere. [1]