Encyclosphere.org ENCYCLOREADER
  supported by EncyclosphereKSF

Degree

From Encyclopedia of Mathematics - Reading time: 1 min

A unit of measurement of planar angles, equal to 1/90 of the right angle; denoted by . A degree is subdivided into 60 minutes (60) or 3600 seconds (3600). A right angle has 90 degrees, a straight angle has 180 degrees. Degrees are also used to measure circular arcs (a full circle has 360 degrees).


Comments[edit]

Due to computer necessities and increasing precision, computations are more often done in decimal parts and no longer in degrees, minutes and seconds.

Sometimes, a degree of a number a is an expression of the form ab where b is also a (suitable) number, see Power.

There are numerous other ways in which the word degree is used. E.g. degree of a polynomial; degree of a mapping; degree of unsolvability, degree of irrationality, and many more. It is also, of course, the name of the unit for temperature measurements in various scales.


How to Cite This Entry: Degree (Encyclopedia of Mathematics) | Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: https://encyclopediaofmath.org/wiki/Degree
46 views | Status: cached on April 25 2025 18:19:48
↧ Download this article as ZWI file
Encyclosphere.org EncycloReader is supported by the EncyclosphereKSF