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Illustration of a unit circle. The variable t is an angle measure. Animation of the act of unrolling the circumference of a unit circle, a circle with radius of 1. Since C = 2πr, the circumference of a unit circle is 2π. In mathematics, a unit circle is a circle of unit radius—that is, a radius of 1. [1]
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.
A circle with an equilateral chord (red). One sixtieth of this arc is a degree. Six such chords complete the circle. [6] 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.
[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 ]
All of the trigonometric functions of the angle θ (theta) can be constructed geometrically in terms of a unit circle centered at O. Sine function on unit circle (top) and its graph (bottom) In this illustration, the six trigonometric functions of an arbitrary angle θ are represented as Cartesian coordinates of points related to the unit circle.
Since it is straightforward to calculate the length of each linear segment (using the Pythagorean theorem in Euclidean space, for example), the total length of the approximation can be found by summation of the lengths of each linear segment; that approximation is known as the (cumulative) chordal distance.
Special angle-based triangles inscribed in a unit circle are handy for visualizing and remembering trigonometric functions of multiples of 30 and 45 degrees. Angle-based special right triangles are specified by the relationships of the angles of which the triangle is composed.
Where degree of curvature is based on 100 units of arc length, the conversion between degree of curvature and radius is Dr = 18000/π ≈ 5729.57795, where D is degree and r is radius. Since rail routes have very large radii, they are laid out in chords, as the difference to the arc is inconsequential; this made work easier before electronic ...