RADIAN MEASURE
Positive, Negative and Coterminal, Oh My!
In the past, all of the angles you worked with had measures ranging from 0° to 360°. There are
actually many other possible measures…the secret’s out!
The angles we have seen in the past have all been positive, and were created by rotating the
terminal arm counterclockwise from the positive x-axis. If we rotate clockwise, however, we’ll
get a negative angle. The following diagrams sum it up…
It’s also possible for the terminal arm to rotate past 360° (or -360°).
When two angles in standard position
have the same terminal arm, they are
called coterminal angles.
For example, as shown in the diagram
on the left, 45° and 405° are coterminal
angles.
Notice that coterminal angles differ by a multiple of 360°.
Recall that the related acute angle for an angle in standard position is the acute angle between
the terminal arm and the x-axis.
Example
For each of the following angles, draw a diagram of the angle in standard position and find the
related acute angle.
a) 150° b) -110° c) 73° d) 470°
Introducing…Radian Measure
Whenever we have referred to angles in the past, we have always used degrees to measure them.
There is, however, another type of angle measurement, known as radian measure, which is
commonly used in mathematics and science.
Consider the following diagram, in which the angle θ is formed by two radii of the circle.
Notice that as the angle θ increases, the length of the arc carved out on
the circle also increases. When the length of the arc is exactly the same
as the length of the circle’s radius, the measure of angle θ is one radian.
One radian is the measure of an angle which is subtended at the centre
of a circle by an arc equal in length to the radius of the circle.
A few diagrams to demonstrate…
The diagrams above lead to the following generalization:
arc length a
number of radians = or θ =
radius r
Does this relationship make sense? If not, look at the previous diagrams again.
By the way, when working in radians, the unit rad is often omitted. For example, an angle
measure written as 2 is assumed to be 2 rad, and an angle written as π is π rad.
Examples
Find the indicated quantity in each of the following.
How do we convert between degrees and radians?
Well, for any circle with a radius r, the circumference is given by 2πr.
So, in radian measure, the angle created by one complete revolution is
arc length 2πr
=
radius r
= 2π rad
We also know that one full revolution is 360°.
∴ 2π rad = 360°
π rad = 180°
The above relationship is very important and deserves repeating…
π rad = 180°
From this relationship, we also see the following:
° π
180
1 rad = and 1° = rad
π 180
Some examples
1) Change each radian measure to degree measure. Round to the nearest tenth of a degree,
if necessary.
π
a) b) 2.2 c) − 3π d) 1
3
2) Find the exact radian measure, in terms of π, for the following.
a) 45° b) 510° c) -210°
3) Change each degree measure to radian measure, to the nearest hundredth.
a) 30° b) -420°
4)
