Angles in Standard Position
An angle is in standard position when its vertex sits at the origin and its initial side lies along the positive -axis. The terminal side is where the ray ends after rotating.
- A positive angle rotates counterclockwise.
- A negative angle rotates clockwise.
The quadrant of the angle is the quadrant containing its terminal side.
Angles can be measured in degrees (a full turn is ) or radians (a full turn is , the ratio of arc length to radius). Radians make calculus formulas clean, which is why they win in every course after this one. Coterminal angles differ by full turns; arc length is with in radians.
A positive angle in standard position (terminal side in Quadrant II).
A negative angle (clockwise rotation, terminal side in Quadrant IV).
A quadrantal angle has its terminal side lying on an axis. The common ones are
(equivalently radians). These angles are in no quadrant.
Plugging degrees into or into a calculator set to radians. Convert first: multiply degrees by .
Coterminal Angles
Two angles are coterminal if they share the same terminal side. Add or subtract full revolutions:
The terminal side records only where a rotation stops, not how many turns it took on the way. Adding a full turn ( or ) moves the ray all the way around and back to the same place, so every angle has infinitely many coterminal partners, one for each whole number of extra turns in either direction. Their trig values are identical, which is why reducing a large angle to is always the first move.
and are coterminal: .
Find one positive and one negative angle coterminal with . Positive: . Negative: .
Mixing units. For , writing produces a number that is neither a degree measure nor a sensible radian measure. A full turn in radians is , so the coterminal angles are and .
Tip: To find the coterminal angle between and , keep adding or subtracting until you land in that range. (For radians, use .)
Find the angle in that is coterminal with , and name its quadrant.
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Answer: , Quadrant I. Add full turns until the angle lands in range: . Two turns () are not enough and four () overshoot, so three is the right count.
Degree Measure and DMS
One full revolution is . A degree splits further:
Minutes and seconds of arc work exactly like minutes and seconds of time: sixty of one make one of the next. That is why converting a decimal part means multiplying by (how many sixtieths fit in it), and converting back means dividing by for minutes and by for seconds.
Convert to DMS. Multiply the decimal part by :
Convert to decimal degrees.
Tip: Going to DMS, multiply the leftover decimal by at each step. Going from DMS, divide minutes by and seconds by , then add.
Convert to degrees, minutes, and seconds.
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Answer: . Keep the . The decimal part gives minutes: . Keep the ; its decimal part gives seconds: . Check: .
Radian Measure and Conversions
One radian is the central angle that subtends an arc equal in length to the radius. A full circle is radians, so
A radian measures an angle by how many radius-lengths of arc it cuts off. The whole circumference is , which is radius-lengths, so a full turn is radians. Matching the two ways of measuring a full turn, , gives , and both conversion factors are just this equation written as a fraction equal to .
Convert to radians.
Convert radians to degrees.
Treating radian as a unit of . The angle radians is not ; that would be radians. Multiply by the conversion factor: , a little under a third of a turn.
Remember: When no degree symbol appears, the angle is in radians. Keep answers exact with unless a decimal is requested.
(a) Convert to radians. (b) Convert radians to degrees.
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(a) . (divide top and bottom by ). (b) . ; the 's cancel, which is the sign the factor was the right way up.
Arc Length and Sector Area
For a circle of radius and a central angle measured in radians:
If is given in degrees, convert to radians first.
A sector is the fraction of the whole circle. Its arc is that fraction of the circumference, , and its area is that fraction of the disk, . Both formulas are proportions in disguise, and the 's cancel only because is in radians.
A sector with radius , central angle , arc length , and area .
A circle has and central angle .
Trap: and only work when is in radians. A degree measure must be converted first.
A circle has radius cm. Find the arc length and the sector area cut off by a central angle of .
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Answer: cm, cm. Convert first: . Then and . Sanity check: is of a turn, and of the circumference is .
Linear Speed and Angular Speed
Suppose a point moves along a circle of radius , sweeping angle (radians) in time .
Revolutions: revolution radians, so RPM rad per minute.
Every point on a turning wheel sweeps the same angle in the same time, so they share one angular speed . But a point on the rim travels a longer arc than a point near the hub: dividing by the time gives , so linear speed grows in proportion to the distance from the center.
A wheel of radius m spins at RPM. Find its angular and linear speed.
Tip: Belts and gears in contact share the same linear speed , so . A point at the center has but zero linear speed.
A wheel of radius m turns at RPM. Find its angular speed in rad/min and the linear speed of a point on the rim.
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Answer: rad/min, m/min. Each revolution is radians, so rad/min. Then m/min.
Complementary and Supplementary Angles
Two positive angles are
- complementary if they add to (or rad),
- supplementary if they add to (or rad).
So the complement of is , and its supplement is .
Find the complement and supplement of .
Remember: Only angles smaller than have a complement. “Complement” pairs with (a Corner); “Supplement” pairs with (a Straight line).
Going Deeper: Advanced Angle Ideas
When two wheels are connected, one of two rules applies:
- In contact (meshed gears, or a belt/pulley) they share the same linear speed at the rim: , so .
- On a common axle (rigidly fixed together) they share the same angular speed: .
To trace a chain, alternate these rules link by link. For meshed gears the tooth counts obey , since teeth are equally spaced around the rim.
Two meshed wheels touch at the rim, so their rim (linear) speeds match: .
Gear A ( cm) meshes with gear B ( cm). Fixed rigidly to gear B on the same axle is gear C ( cm), which meshes with gear D ( cm). Gear A turns at RPM. Find the angular speed of gear D. First convert: rad/min. A–B in contact: rad/min. B–C on one axle: rad/min. C–D in contact: . As RPM: .
A clock face is , split into hours of each. The hands sweep at constant rates:
At the hands make angles (measured clockwise from )
The angle between them is ; if this exceeds , subtract from .
The angle between the hour and minute hands.
(a) Angle at 3:40. Use with :
Since , the angle between the hands is . (b) Overlaps. The hands coincide when , i.e. , so . Starting from , successive overlaps are spaced
apart, giving overlaps every hours (not ). Equivalently the minute hand gains a full on the hour hand every of an hour.
A sector is fixed by any two of . Because arc length is linear in but area is quadratic in , combining an arc (or perimeter) condition with an area condition often yields a quadratic, hence two valid sectors. The sector perimeter is
the arc plus the two radii. Pair this with to solve.
A sector has perimeter and area . Find the possible radii and central angles. From we get , so the arc . Substitute into :
So or . If : (about ). If : (about ). Both are genuine sectors, so the data admits two solutions.
Rotating machinery is usually rated in RPM (revolutions per minute). Convert deliberately, one factor at a time:
For ground speed of a rolling wheel, distance per revolution is the circumference . Watch that every quantity uses the same length and time units before combining.
(a) Satellite. A satellite completes one orbit of radius km every minutes. Its angular speed is
(b) Wheel. A car tire of radius m turns at RPM. Distance per minute is
Converting to km/h: .
Coterminal with a condition: to find the angle coterminal with that lands in a required window, add or subtract full turns until it fits. For example, the value of in is . To force a specific quadrant or a range, keep the same step and stop in the target interval.
Master trap: , , and all demand radians (and radians/time). RPM and degrees must be converted before they enter these formulas, never after.
Why It Works
A radian is defined so that an arc equal in length to the radius subtends one radian. Since the full circumference is , a full turn is radians; hence radians and the conversion factor . Arc length is then the definition scaled up: an angle of radians cuts off radius-lengths of arc. Sector area follows as the same fraction of the circle: .
Do not read a proof the way you read a rule. Cover the last line, ask what the previous line forces, and only then uncover it. If a step feels like magic, that is the step to work by hand with a concrete number.
Formulas, Proofs & Tips
What it means. A radian is the angle that cuts an arc as long as the radius.
Example. rad; with , , arc length .
Why it works. A full circle has circumference , which is radius-lengths — so a full turn is radians and half a turn is . Since radians is of the circle, the arc is .
Tip. and only work in radians. Convert first, or use the versions instead.
What it means. Angles that land in the same place, and the acute angle that carries the trig value.
Example. is coterminal with ; the reference angle of is .
Why it works. A full turn returns to the same ray, so adding changes nothing about the terminal side — and therefore nothing about sine or cosine. The reference angle forms a congruent right triangle, so the ratios match up to sign.
Tip. Find the reference angle, take the trig value there, then attach the sign from the quadrant (ASTC).