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Angle Depression Formula:
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Angle depression is the angle formed between a horizontal line and the line of sight when looking downward from an elevated position. It is commonly used in trigonometry, surveying, and navigation to determine angles below the horizontal plane.
The calculator uses the trigonometric formula:
Where:
Explanation: The arctangent function calculates the angle whose tangent is the ratio of opposite to adjacent sides, giving the depression angle in a right triangle.
Details: Calculating angle depression is essential in fields like surveying, construction, aviation, and navigation. It helps determine slopes, sight lines, and elevation angles for various engineering and scientific applications.
Tips: Enter the length of the opposite side (vertical distance) and adjacent side (horizontal distance) in consistent units. Both values must be positive numbers greater than zero for accurate calculation.
Q1: What is the difference between angle of depression and angle of elevation?
A: Angle of depression is measured downward from horizontal, while angle of elevation is measured upward from horizontal. They are complementary angles in many scenarios.
Q2: What units should I use for the side lengths?
A: You can use any consistent units (meters, feet, inches, etc.) as long as both opposite and adjacent sides use the same unit system.
Q3: Can this calculator handle very small or very large angles?
A: Yes, the calculator can handle angles from nearly 0° to nearly 90°, though extreme values may have reduced precision due to floating-point arithmetic.
Q4: What if the adjacent side is zero?
A: The adjacent side cannot be zero as it would result in division by zero. The calculator requires both sides to be positive numbers.
Q5: How accurate is the calculation?
A: The calculation uses PHP's built-in trigonometric functions which provide high precision, with results rounded to 2 decimal places for readability.