Angle

In Euclidean geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays,

called the sides of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the
vertex of the angle.[1] Angles formed by two rays lie in the plane
that contains the rays. Angles are also formed by the intersection of
two planes. These are called dihedral angles. Two intersecting
curves may also define an angle, which is the angle of the rays
lying tangent to the respective curves at their point of intersection.

Angle is also used to designate the measure of an angle or of a

rotation. This measure is the ratio of the length of a circular arc to An angle formed by two rays
its radius. In the case of a geometric angle, the arc is centered at the emanating from a vertex.
vertex and delimited by the sides. In the case of a rotation, the arc is
centered at the center of the rotation and delimited by any other
point and its image by the rotation.

Contents
History and etymology
Identifying angles
Types of angles
Individual angles
Equivalence angle pairs
Vertical and adjacent angle pairs
Combining angle pairs
Polygon-related angles
Plane-related angles
Measuring angles
Angle addition postulate
Units
Other descriptors
Signed angles
Alternative ways of measuring the size of an angle
Astronomical approximations
Measurements that are not angular units
Angles between curves
Bisecting and trisecting angles
Dot product and generalisations
Inner product
Angles between subspaces
Angles in Riemannian geometry
 Hyperbolic angle
Angles in geography and astronomy
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links

History and etymology

The word angle comes from the Latin word angulus, meaning "corner"; cognate words are the Greek
ἀγκύλος (ankylοs), meaning "crooked, curved," and the English word "ankle". Both are connected with
the Proto-Indo-European root *ank-, meaning "to bend" or "bow".[2]

Euclid defines a plane angle as the inclination to each other, in a plane, of two lines which meet each other,
and do not lie straight with respect to each other. According to Proclus, an angle must be either a quality or
a quantity, or a relationship. The first concept was used by Eudemus, who regarded an angle as a deviation
from a straight line; the second by Carpus of Antioch, who regarded it as the interval or space between the
intersecting lines; Euclid adopted the third concept.[3]

Identifying angles
In mathematical expressions, it is common to use Greek letters (α, β, γ, θ, φ, . . . ) as variables denoting the
size of some angle (to avoid confusion with its other meaning, the symbol π is typically not used for this
purpose). Lower case Roman letters (a, b, c, . . . ) are also used. In contexts where this is not confusing, an
angle may be denoted by the upper case Roman letter denoting its vertex. See the figures in this article for
examples.

In geometric figures, angles may also be identified by the three points that define them. For example, the
angle with vertex A formed by the rays AB and AC (that is, the lines from point A to points B and C) is
denoted ∠BAC or . Where there is no risk of confusion, the angle may sometimes be referred to
simply by its vertex (in this case "angle A").

Potentially, an angle denoted as, say, ∠BAC, might refer to any of four angles: the clockwise angle from
B to C, the anticlockwise angle from B to C, the clockwise angle from C to B, or the anticlockwise angle
from C to B, where the direction in which the angle is measured determines its sign (see Positive and
negative angles). However, in many geometrical situations, it is obvious from context that the positive angle
less than or equal to 180 degrees is meant, in which case no ambiguity arises. Otherwise, a convention may
be adopted so that ∠BAC always refers to the anticlockwise (positive) angle from B to C, and ∠CAB
the anticlockwise (positive) angle from C to B.

Types of angles

Individual angles
There is some common terminology for angles, whose measure is always non-negative (see § Positive and
negative angles):[4][5]

An angle equal to 0° or not turned is called a zero angle.

An angle smaller than a right angle (less than 90°) is called an acute angle ("acute" meaning
"sharp").
π
An angle equal to 14 turn (90° or 2 radians) is called a right angle. Two lines that form a right
angle are said to be normal, orthogonal, or perpendicular.
An angle larger than a right angle and smaller than a straight angle (between 90° and 180°)
is called an obtuse angle ("obtuse" meaning "blunt").
An angle equal to 12 turn (180° or π radians) is called a straight angle.
An angle larger than a straight angle but less than 1 turn (between 180° and 360°) is called a
reflex angle.
An angle equal to 1 turn (360° or 2π radians) is called a full angle, complete angle, round
angle or a perigon.
An angle that is not a multiple of a right angle is called an oblique angle.

The names, intervals, and measuring units are shown in the table below:

Right angle Acute (a), obtuse (b), and straight Reflex angle
(c) angles. The acute and obtuse
angles are also known as oblique
angles.

right
Name zero acute obtuse straight reflex perigon
angle
Unit Interval

turn 0 turn (0, 14 ) turn 1

4
turn ( 14 , 12 ) turn 1
2
turn ( 12 , 1) turn 1 turn

radian 0 rad (0, 12 π) rad 1

2
π rad ( 12 π, π) rad π rad (π, 2π) rad 2π rad

degree 0° (0, 90)° 90° (90, 180)° 180° (180, 360)° 360°

gon 0g (0, 100)g 100g (100, 200)g 200g (200, 400)g 400g

Equivalence angle pairs

Angles that have the same measure (i.e. the same magnitude) are said to be equal or
congruent. An angle is defined by its measure and is not dependent upon the lengths of the
sides of the angle (e.g. all right angles are equal in measure).
Two angles that share terminal sides, but differ in size by an integer multiple of a turn, are
called coterminal angles.
 A reference angle is the acute version of any angle determined by repeatedly subtracting or
adding straight angle ( 12 turn, 180°, or π radians), to the results as necessary, until the
magnitude of the result is an acute angle, a value between 0 and 1 turn, 90°, or π radians.
4 2
For example, an angle of 30 degrees has a reference angle of 30 degrees, and an angle of
150 degrees also has a reference angle of 30 degrees (180–150). An angle of 750 degrees
has a reference angle of 30 degrees (750–720).[6]

Vertical and adjacent angle pairs

When two straight lines intersect at a point, four angles are formed. Pairwise
these angles are named according to their location relative to each other.

A pair of angles opposite each other, formed by two intersecting

straight lines that form an "X"-like shape, are called vertical angles
or opposite angles or vertically opposite angles. They are
abbreviated as vert. opp. ∠s.[7]

The equality of vertically opposite angles is called the vertical

angle theorem. Eudemus of Rhodes attributed the proof to
Thales of Miletus.[8][9] The proposition showed that since both of Angles A and B are a
a pair of vertical angles are supplementary to both of the pair of vertical angles;
adjacent angles, the vertical angles are equal in measure.
angles C and D are a
According to a historical note,[9] when Thales visited Egypt, he pair of vertical angles.
observed that whenever the Egyptians drew two intersecting Hatch marks are used
lines, they would measure the vertical angles to make sure that here to show angle
they were equal. Thales concluded that one could prove that all
equality.
vertical angles are equal if one accepted some general notions
such as:
All straight angles are equal.
Equals added to equals are equal.
Equals subtracted from equals are equal.

When two adjacent angles form a straight line, they are supplementary. Therefore, if we
assume that the measure of angle A equals x, then the measure of angle C would be
180° − x. Similarly, the measure of angle D would be 180° − x. Both angle C and angle D
have measures equal to 180° − x and are congruent. Since angle B is supplementary to
both angles C and D, either of these angle measures may be used to determine the
measure of Angle B. Using the measure of either angle C or angle D, we find the measure
of angle B to be 180° − (180° − x) = 180° − 180° + x = x. Therefore, both angle A and angle
B have measures equal to x and are equal in measure.

Adjacent angles, often abbreviated as adj. ∠s, are angles that share a common vertex and
edge but do not share any interior points. In other words, they are angles that are side by
side, or adjacent, sharing an "arm". Adjacent angles which sum to a right angle, straight
angle, or full angle are special and are respectively called complementary, supplementary
and explementary angles (see § Combining angle pairs below).

A transversal is a line that intersects a pair of (often parallel) lines, and is associated with alternate interior
angles, corresponding angles, interior angles, and exterior angles.[10]
Combining angle pairs

Three special angle pairs involve the summation of angles:

Complementary angles are angle pairs whose

1 π
measures sum to one right angle ( 4 turn, 90°, or 2
radians).[11] If the two complementary angles are
adjacent, their non-shared sides form a right angle. In
Euclidean geometry, the two acute angles in a right
triangle are complementary, because the sum of internal
angles of a triangle is 180 degrees, and the right angle Angles A and B are adjacent.
itself accounts for 90 degrees.

The adjective complementary is from Latin complementum,

associated with the verb complere, "to fill up". An acute angle is
"filled up" by its complement to form a right angle.
The difference between an angle and a right angle is termed the
complement of the angle.[12]
If angles A and B are complementary, the following relationships
hold:

The complementary
angles a and b (b is the
complement of a, and a
(The tangent of an angle equals the cotangent of its complement is the complement of b).
and its secant equals the cosecant of its complement.)
The prefix "co-" in the names of some trigonometric ratios refers
to the word "complementary".

Two angles that sum to a straight angle ( 12

turn, 180°, or π radians) are called
supplementary angles.[13]

If the two supplementary angles are

adjacent (i.e. have a common vertex and
share just one side), their non-shared sides
form a straight line. Such angles are called
a linear pair of angles.[14] However,
supplementary angles do not have to be on The angles a and b are supplementary angles.
the same line, and can be separated in
space. For example, adjacent angles of a
parallelogram are supplementary, and opposite angles of a cyclic quadrilateral (one
whose vertices all fall on a single circle) are supplementary.
If a point P is exterior to a circle with center O, and if the tangent lines from P touch the
circle at points T and Q, then ∠TPQ and ∠TOQ are supplementary.
The sines of supplementary angles are equal. Their cosines and tangents (unless
undefined) are equal in magnitude but have opposite signs.
In Euclidean geometry, any sum of two angles in a triangle is supplementary to the third,
because the sum of internal angles of a triangle is a straight angle.
 Two angles that sum to a complete angle (1 turn, 360°, or 2π
radians) are called explementary angles or conjugate angles.

The difference between an angle and a complete angle is

termed the explement of the angle or conjugate of an angle.

Sum of two
explementary angles is a
complete angle.

Polygon-related angles
An angle that is part of a simple polygon is
called an interior angle if it lies on the inside
of that simple polygon. A simple concave
polygon has at least one interior angle that is
a reflex angle.

In Euclidean geometry, the measures of

the interior angles of a triangle add up
1
to π radians, 180°, or 2 turn; the
measures of the interior angles of a
simple convex quadrilateral add up to
2π radians, 360°, or 1 turn. In general,
the measures of the interior angles of a
simple convex polygon with n sides Internal and external angles.
add up to (n − 2)π radians, or
(n − 2)180 degrees, (n − 2)2 right
angles, or (n − 2) 12 turn.

The supplement of an interior angle is called an exterior angle, that is, an interior angle and
an exterior angle form a linear pair of angles. There are two exterior angles at each vertex of
the polygon, each determined by extending one of the two sides of the polygon that meet at
the vertex; these two angles are vertical and hence are equal. An exterior angle measures
the amount of rotation one has to make at a vertex to trace out the polygon.[15] If the
corresponding interior angle is a reflex angle, the exterior angle should be considered
negative. Even in a non-simple polygon it may be possible to define the exterior angle, but
one will have to pick an orientation of the plane (or surface) to decide the sign of the exterior
angle measure.

In Euclidean geometry, the sum of the exterior angles of a simple convex polygon, if
only one of the two exterior angles is assumed at each vertex, will be one full turn
(360°). The exterior angle here could be called a supplementary exterior angle.
Exterior angles are commonly used in Logo Turtle programs when drawing regular
polygons.
 In a triangle, the bisectors of two exterior angles and the bisector of the other interior angle
are concurrent (meet at a single point).[16]: p. 149
In a triangle, three intersection points, each of an external angle bisector with the opposite
extended side, are collinear.[16]: p. 149
In a triangle, three intersection points, two of them between an interior angle bisector and the
opposite side, and the third between the other exterior angle bisector and the opposite side
extended, are collinear.[16]: p. 149
Some authors use the name exterior angle of a simple polygon to simply mean the
explement exterior angle (not supplement!) of the interior angle.[17] This conflicts with the
above usage.

Plane-related angles
The angle between two planes (such as two adjacent faces of a polyhedron) is called a
dihedral angle.[12] It may be defined as the acute angle between two lines normal to the
planes.
The angle between a plane and an intersecting straight line is equal to ninety degrees
minus the angle between the intersecting line and the line that goes through the point of
intersection and is normal to the plane.

Measuring angles
The size of a geometric angle is usually characterized by the magnitude of the smallest rotation that maps
one of the rays into the other. Angles that have the same size are said to be equal or congruent or equal in
measure.

In some contexts, such as identifying a point on a circle or describing the orientation of an object in two
dimensions relative to a reference orientation, angles that differ by an exact multiple of a full turn are
effectively equivalent. In other contexts, such as identifying a point on a spiral curve or describing the
cumulative rotation of an object in two dimensions relative to a reference orientation, angles that differ by a
non-zero multiple of a full turn are not equivalent.

In order to measure an angle θ, a circular arc centered at the vertex

of the angle is drawn, e.g. with a pair of compasses. The ratio of
the length s of the arc by the radius r of the circle is the number of
radians in the angle. Conventionally, in mathematics and in the SI,
the radian is treated as being equal to the dimensionless value 1.

The angle expressed another angular unit may then be obtained by

multiplying the angle by a suitable conversion constant of the form
k
2π
, where k is the measure of a complete turn expressed in the s
The measure of angle θ is r radians.
chosen unit (for example, k = 360° for degrees or 400 grad for
gradians):

The value of θ thus defined is independent of the size of the circle: if the length of the radius is changed
then the arc length changes in the same proportion, so the ratio s/r is unaltered.[nb 1]
Angle addition postulate

The angle addition postulate states that if B is in the interior of angle AOC, then

The measure of the angle AOC is the sum of the measure of angle AOB and the measure of angle BOC.

Units

Throughout history, angles have been measured in various units. These are
known as angular units, with the most contemporary units being the degree (
° ), the radian (rad), and the gradian (grad), though many others have been
used throughout history.[19]

In the International System of Quantities, angle is defined as a dimensionless

quantity. This impacts how angle is treated in dimensional analysis.
Definition of 1 radian
Most units of angular measurement are defined such that one turn (i.e. one full
circle) is equal to n units, for some whole number n. Two exceptions are the
radian (and its decimal submultiples) and the diameter part.

One radian is the angle subtended by an arc of a circle that has the same length as the circle's radius. The
radian is the derived unit of angular measurement in the SI system. By definition, it is dimensionless,
though it may be specified as rad to avoid ambiguity. Angles measured in degrees, are shown with the
symbol °. Subdivisions of the degree are minute (symbol ′, 1′ = 1/60°) and second (symbol ″, 1″ =
1/3600°). An angle of 360° corresponds to the angle subtended by a full circle, and is equal to 2π radians,
or 400 gradians.

Other units used to represent angles are listed in the following table. These units are defined such that the
number of turns is equivalent to a full rotation.
 number
in
name in one description
degrees
turn
The turn, also cycle, revolution, and rotation, is complete circular
movement or measure (as to return to the same point) with circle or
Turn 1 360°
ellipse. A turn is abbreviated cyc, rev, or rot depending on the
application. A turn is equal to 2π radians or 360 degrees.

The multiples of π radians (MULπ) unit is implemented in the RPN

Multiples of
π
2 180° scientific calculator WP 43S.[20][21][22] See also: IEEE 754
recommended operations
1
One quadrant is a 4 turn and also known as a right angle. The quadrant
Quadrant 4 90° is the unit used in Euclid's Elements. In German, the symbol ∟ has been
used to denote a quadrant. 1 quad = 90° = π rad = 1 turn = 100 grad.
2 4

The sextant was the unit used by the Babylonians,[23][24] The degree,
minute of arc and second of arc are sexagesimal subunits of the
Sextant 6 60° Babylonian unit. It is especially easy to construct with ruler and
1
compasses. It is the angle of the equilateral triangle or is 6 turn. 1
Babylonian unit = 60° = π/3 rad ≈ 1.047197551 rad.
The radian is determined by the circumference of a circle that is equal in
length to the radius of the circle (n = 2π = 6.283...). It is the angle
subtended by an arc of a circle that has the same length as the circle's
radius. The symbol for radian is rad. One turn is 2π radians, and one
180°
radian is π , or about 57.2958 degrees. In mathematical texts, angles
Radian 2π 57°17′ are often treated as being dimensionless with the radian equal to one,
resulting in the unit rad often being omitted. The radian is used in virtually
all mathematical work beyond simple practical geometry, due, for
example, to the pleasing and "natural" properties that the trigonometric
functions display when their arguments are in radians. The radian is the
(derived) unit of angular measurement in the SI, which also treats angle
as being dimensionless.
The hexacontade is a unit used by Eratosthenes. It is equal to 6°, so that
Hexacontade 60 6°
a whole turn was divided into 60 hexacontades.
The binary degree, also known as the binary radian or brad or binary
angular measurement (BAM).[25] The binary degree is used in computing
so that an angle can be efficiently represented in a single byte (albeit to
limited precision). Other measures of angle used in computing may be
Binary
degree
256 1°33'45" based on dividing one whole turn into 2n equal parts for other values of n.

[26] 1
It is 256 of a turn.[25]

One advantage of this old sexagesimal subunit is that many angles

common in simple geometry are measured as a whole number of
degrees. Fractions of a degree may be written in normal decimal notation
(e.g. 3.5° for three and a half degrees), but the "minute" and "second"
sexagesimal subunits of the "degree-minute-second" system are also in
Degree 360 1° use, especially for geographical coordinates and in astronomy and
ballistics (n = 360) The degree, denoted by a small superscript circle (°),
is 1/360 of a turn, so one turn is 360°. The case of degrees for the
formula given earlier, a degree of n = 360° units is obtained by setting k =
360°
2π .

Grad 400 0°54′ The grad, also called grade, gradian, or gon. It is a decimal subunit of the
quadrant. A right angle is 100 grads. A kilometre was historically defined
as a centi-grad of arc along a meridian of the Earth, so the kilometer is
 the decimal analog to the sexagesimal nautical mile (n = 400). The grad
is used mostly in triangulation and continental surveying.
1
The minute of arc (or MOA, arcminute, or just minute) is 60 of a degree.
A nautical mile was historically defined as a minute of arc along a great
1 1
circle of the Earth (n = 21,600). The arcminute is 60 of a degree = 21,600
turn. It is denoted by a single prime ( ′ ). For example, 3° 30′ is equal to
Minute of arc 21,600 0°1′ 30
3 × 60 + 30 = 210 minutes or 3 + 60 = 3.5 degrees. A mixed format with
5.72
decimal fractions is also sometimes used, e.g. 3° 5.72′ = 3 + 60
degrees. A nautical mile was historically defined as an arcminute along a
great circle of the Earth.
1
The second of arc (or arcsecond, or just second) is 60 of a minute of arc
1
and 3600 of a degree (n = 1,296,000). The arcsecond (or second of arc,
Second of 1 1
1,296,000 0°0′1″ or just second) is 60 of an arcminute and 3600 of a degree. It is denoted
arc
7 30
by a double prime ( ″ ). For example, 3° 7′ 30″ is equal to 3 + 60 + 3600
degrees, or 3.125 degrees.

Other descriptors
1
Hour angle (n = 24): The astronomical hour angle is 24 turn. As this system is amenable to
measuring objects that cycle once per day (such as the relative position of stars), the
sexagesimal subunits are called minute of time and second of time. These are distinct from,
π 1 1
and 15 times larger than, minutes and seconds of arc. 1 hour = 15° = 12 rad = 6 quad = 24
turn = 16 23 grad.
1
(Compass) point or wind (n = 32): The point, used in navigation, is 32 of a turn. 1 point = 18 of
a right angle = 11.25° = 12.5 grad. Each point is subdivided in four quarter-points so that 1
turn equals 128 quarter-points.
1
Pechus (n = 144–180): The pechus was a Babylonian unit equal to about 2° or 2 2 °.
Tau, the number of radians in one turn (1 turn = τ rad), τ = 2π .
Diameter part (n = 376.99...): The diameter part (occasionally used in Islamic mathematics)
1
is 60 radian. One "diameter part" is approximately 0.95493°. There are about 376.991
diameter parts per turn.
Milliradian and derived definitions: The true milliradian is defined a thousandth of a radian,
which means that a rotation of one turn would equal exactly 2000π mil (or approximately
6283.185 mil), and almost all scope sights for firearms are calibrated to this definition. In
addition there are three other derived definitions used for artillery and navigation which are
approximately equal to a milliradian. Under these three other definitions one turn makes up
for exactly 6000, 6300 or 6400 mils, which equals spanning the range from 0.05625 to 0.06
degrees (3.375 to 3.6 minutes). In comparison, the true milliradian is approximately
1
0.05729578 degrees (3.43775 minutes). One "NATO mil" is defined as 6400 of a circle. Just
like with the true milliradian, each of the other definitions exploits the mil's useful property of
subtensions, i.e. that the value of one milliradian approximately equals the angle subtended
2π 1
by a width of 1 meter as seen from 1 km away ( 6400 = 0.0009817... ≈ 1000 ).
Akhnam and zam. In old Arabia a turn was subdivided in 32 Akhnam and each akhnam was
subdivided in 7 zam, so that a turn is 224 zam.
Signed angles

Although the definition of the measurement of an angle does not support the concept of a negative angle, it
is frequently useful to impose a convention that allows positive and negative angular values to represent
orientations and/or rotations in opposite directions relative to some reference.

In a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, an angle is typically defined by its two sides, with its
vertex at the origin. The initial side is on the positive x-axis, while the other side or terminal side is defined
by the measure from the initial side in radians, degrees, or turns. With positive angles representing rotations
toward the positive y-axis and negative angles representing rotations toward the negative y-axis. When
Cartesian coordinates are represented by standard position, defined by the x-axis rightward and the y-axis
upward, positive rotations are anticlockwise and negative rotations are clockwise.

In many contexts, an angle of −θ is effectively equivalent to an angle of "one full turn minus θ". For
example, an orientation represented as −45° is effectively equivalent to an orientation represented as
360° − 45° or 315°. Although the final position is the same, a physical rotation (movement) of −45° is not
the same as a rotation of 315° (for example, the rotation of a person holding a broom resting on a dusty
floor would leave visually different traces of swept regions on the floor).

In three-dimensional geometry, "clockwise" and "anticlockwise" have no absolute meaning, so the

direction of positive and negative angles must be defined relative to some reference, which is typically a
vector passing through the angle's vertex and perpendicular to the plane in which the rays of the angle lie.

In navigation, bearings or azimuth are measured relative to north. By convention, viewed from above,
bearing angles are positive clockwise, so a bearing of 45° corresponds to a north-east orientation. Negative
bearings are not used in navigation, so a north-west orientation corresponds to a bearing of 315°.

Alternative ways of measuring the size of an angle

There are several alternatives to measuring the size of an angle by the angle of rotation. The slope or
gradient is equal to the tangent of the angle, or sometimes (rarely) the sine; a gradient is often expressed as
a percentage. For very small values (less than 5%), the grade of a slope is approximately the measure of the
angle in radians.

In rational geometry the spread between two lines is defined as the square of the sine of the angle between
the lines. As the sine of an angle and the sine of its supplementary angle are the same, any angle of rotation
that maps one of the lines into the other leads to the same value for the spread between the lines.

Astronomical approximations

Astronomers measure angular separation of objects in degrees from their point of observation.

0.5° is approximately the width of the sun or moon.

1° is approximately the width of a little finger at arm's length.
10° is approximately the width of a closed fist at arm's length.
20° is approximately the width of a handspan at arm's length.

These measurements clearly depend on the individual subject, and the above should be treated as rough
rule of thumb approximations only.
In astronomy, right ascension and declination are usually measured in angular units, expressed in terms of
time, based on a 24-hour day.

Unit Symbol Degree Radians Circle Other

Hour h 15° π⁄ 1⁄
12 24

Minute m 0°15′ π⁄ 1⁄ 1⁄ hour

720 1,440 60

Second s 0°0′15″ π⁄ 1⁄ 1⁄ minute

43200 86,400 60

Measurements that are not angular units

Not all angle measurements are angular units, for an angular measurement, it is definitional that the angle
addition postulate holds.

Some angle measurements where the angle addition postulate does not hold include:

Trigonometric functions
Slope

Angles between curves

The angle between a line and a curve (mixed angle) or between
two intersecting curves (curvilinear angle) is defined to be the angle
between the tangents at the point of intersection. Various names
(now rarely, if ever, used) have been given to particular cases:—
amphicyrtic (Gr. ἀμφί, on both sides, κυρτός, convex) or cissoidal
(Gr. κισσός, ivy), biconvex; xystroidal or sistroidal (Gr. ξυστρίς, a
tool for scraping), concavo-convex; amphicoelic (Gr. κοίλη, a
hollow) or angulus lunularis, biconcave.[27] The angle between the two curves at
P is defined as the angle between

Bisecting and trisecting angles the tangents A and B at P.

The ancient Greek mathematicians knew how to bisect an angle (divide it into two angles of equal
measure) using only a compass and straightedge, but could only trisect certain angles. In 1837, Pierre
Wantzel showed that for most angles this construction cannot be performed.

Dot product and generalisations

In the Euclidean space, the angle θ between two Euclidean vectors u and v is related to their dot product
and their lengths by the formula

This formula supplies an easy method to find the angle between two planes (or curved surfaces) from their
normal vectors and between skew lines from their vector equations.

Inner product
To define angles in an abstract real inner product space, we replace the Euclidean dot product ( · ) by the
inner product , i.e.

In a complex inner product space, the expression for the cosine above may give non-real values, so it is
replaced with

or, more commonly, using the absolute value, with

The latter definition ignores the direction of the vectors and thus describes the angle between one-
dimensional subspaces and spanned by the vectors and correspondingly.

Angles between subspaces

The definition of the angle between one-dimensional subspaces and given by

in a Hilbert space can be extended to subspaces of any finite dimensions. Given two subspaces , with
, this leads to a definition of angles called canonical or principal angles
between subspaces.

Angles in Riemannian geometry

In Riemannian geometry, the metric tensor is used to define the angle between two tangents. Where U and
V are tangent vectors and gij are the components of the metric tensor G,

Hyperbolic angle

A hyperbolic angle is an argument of a hyperbolic function just as the circular angle is the argument of a
circular function. The comparison can be visualized as the size of the openings of a hyperbolic sector and a
circular sector since the areas of these sectors correspond to the angle magnitudes in each case. Unlike the
circular angle, the hyperbolic angle is unbounded. When the circular and hyperbolic functions are viewed
as infinite series in their angle argument, the circular ones are just alternating series forms of the hyperbolic
functions. This weaving of the two types of angle and function was explained by Leonhard Euler in
Introduction to the Analysis of the Infinite.

Angles in geography and astronomy

In geography, the location of any point on the Earth can be identified using a geographic coordinate
system. This system specifies the latitude and longitude of any location in terms of angles subtended at the
center of the Earth, using the equator and (usually) the Greenwich meridian as references.

In astronomy, a given point on the celestial sphere (that is, the apparent position of an astronomical object)
can be identified using any of several astronomical coordinate systems, where the references vary
according to the particular system. Astronomers measure the angular separation of two stars by imagining
two lines through the center of the Earth, each intersecting one of the stars. The angle between those lines
can be measured and is the angular separation between the two stars.

In both geography and astronomy, a sighting direction can be specified in terms of a vertical angle such as
altitude /elevation with respect to the horizon as well as the azimuth with respect to north.

Astronomers also measure the apparent size of objects as an angular diameter. For example, the full moon
has an angular diameter of approximately 0.5°, when viewed from Earth. One could say, "The Moon's
diameter subtends an angle of half a degree." The small-angle formula can be used to convert such an
angular measurement into a distance/size ratio.

See also
Angle measuring instrument
Angular statistics (mean, standard deviation)
Angle bisector
Angular acceleration
Angular diameter
Angular velocity
Argument (complex analysis)
Astrological aspect
Central angle
Clock angle problem
Decimal degrees
Dihedral angle
Exterior angle theorem
Golden angle
Great circle distance
Inscribed angle
Irrational angle
Phase (waves)
Protractor
Solid angle
Spherical angle
Transcendent angle
Trisection
Zenith angle

Notes
 1. This approach requires however an additional proof that the measure of the angle does not
change with changing radius r, in addition to the issue of "measurement units chosen". A
smoother approach is to measure the angle by the length of the corresponding unit circle
arc. Here "unit" can be chosen to be dimensionless in the sense that it is the real number 1
associated with the unit segment on the real line. See Radoslav M. Dimitrić for instance.[18]

References
1. Sidorov 2001
2. Slocum 2007
3. Chisholm 1911; Heiberg 1908, pp. 177–178
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7. Wong & Wong 2009, pp. 161–163
8. Euclid. The Elements. Proposition I:13.
9. Shute, Shirk & Porter 1960, pp. 25–27.
10. Jacobs 1974, p. 255.
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angles.html). www.mathsisfun.com. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911),
"Angle", Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 14

External links
"Angle" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica,_Ninth_Edition/An
gle), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (9th ed.), 1878, pp. 29–30

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