How to Convert an Angle to a Radian

You can measure angles in degrees or radians. Degrees, typically the most familiar measure, can be divided into minutes and seconds, with one degree equaling 60 minutes and one minute equaling 60 seconds. You can also convert degrees into radians, with one degree equaling pi/180 radians. Pi can be approximated as 3.14159.

Things You'll Need

• Calculator
• Paper
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Convert your angle to degrees in decimal format if it contains minutes and/or seconds. Divide the number of seconds by 360 and the number of minutes by 60, then add both numbers to the whole number of degrees. This is the total number of degrees of the angle in decimal format.

2. Multiply the total number of degrees by 180.

3. Divide the result of by pi to obtain the radian measure for the angle. Pi may be represented on your calculator by a symbol that looks like a two-legged table with curved legs.

References

• Clark University: Measurement of angles