Difference between revisions of "Radians"

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==Radians==
==Radians==


Most people are familiar with the use of ''degrees'' to measure the size of an angle.  A right angle is 90 degrees, a full circle is 360 degrees, and so on.
Most people are familiar with the use of ''degrees'' to measure the size of an angle.  A right angle is 90 degrees, a full circle is 360 degrees, and so on.


A ''radian'' is simply a different unit used to measure angles.  Just like you can measure distance using feet, meters, or other systems, you can measure angles using degrees or radians.  For various historical reasons, mathematicians often prefer radians.
A ''radian'' is simply a different unit used to measure angles.  Just like you can measure distance using feet, meters, or other systems, you can measure angles using degrees or radians.  For various reasons, mathematicians prefer radians.


Most angles in LSL must be entered as radians, and not degrees.
LSL exclusively uses radians, and not degrees. LSL does however provide [[DEG_TO_RAD]] and [[RAD_TO_DEG]] which can be used to convert from one to the other.


==Converting==
==Converting==


If you have a number d that is some number of degrees, you can convert it to radians by using d*DEG_TO_RAD.  Likewise, if you have radians r, you can convert to degrees using r*RAD_TO_DEG.
If you have a number '''d''' that is some number of degrees, you can convert it to radians by using <code>d * [[DEG_TO_RAD]]</code>.  Likewise, if you have radians '''r''', you can convert to degrees using <code>r * [[RAD_TO_DEG]]</code>.

Latest revision as of 04:57, 13 May 2009

Radians

Most people are familiar with the use of degrees to measure the size of an angle. A right angle is 90 degrees, a full circle is 360 degrees, and so on.

A radian is simply a different unit used to measure angles. Just like you can measure distance using feet, meters, or other systems, you can measure angles using degrees or radians. For various reasons, mathematicians prefer radians.

LSL exclusively uses radians, and not degrees. LSL does however provide DEG_TO_RAD and RAD_TO_DEG which can be used to convert from one to the other.

Converting

If you have a number d that is some number of degrees, you can convert it to radians by using d * DEG_TO_RAD. Likewise, if you have radians r, you can convert to degrees using r * RAD_TO_DEG.