What are the proper units for measuring angles?

1 Answer
Apr 30, 2017

Three units for measuring angles - degrees, radians and grads.

Explanation:

Angle can be measured in three ways.

1 - The most popular unit is degree, minutes and seconds. In this there are #90# degrees in a right angle or #360# degrees in a complete circle and for finer calculations, each degree is divided in #60# parts each called a minute , and further each minute is divided in #60# parts with each part being called a second .

2 - We also use the unit radian. It is a bit complicated as in one complete circle there are #2pi# radians (#pi=3.14159265359.......#) and #pi/2# radians in each right angle. This is mostly use in mathematical calculations.

3 - The third type of unit for measuring angles is grad (from gradient). This was an attempt to bring decimal system for angles, as each right angle was divided into #100# grads (and #400# grads for a circle). Further, each grad is divided in #100# parts each called a minute , and further each minute is divided in #100# parts with each part being called a second .