What is the difference between DEG and RAD in calculators?
In: Mathematics
Like everyone has said, deg is degrees and rad is radians so I’ll explain them a bit more. Radians is a “natural” unit that you get by dividing the length of an arc (or the full perimiter) by the radius. When you do math with angles, it spits out radians. However, it tends to be more difficult for everyday use. A circle doesn’t have a whole number or radians (in fact it’s infinite and doesn’t repeat just like pi) and they’re larger.
Degrees are pretty old and the origin is lost a bit, but it’s forced on a circle (meaning that it’s something we made up). But in everyday use, it’s easier to work with. There’s a whole number of them and they’re small enough for most general use purposes.
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