CurriculumGrade 12Mathematics

Radian Measure and Arc Length

Aligned to F-TF.A.1 — Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.

What this lesson teaches

One radian is the angle that subtends an arc equal in length to the radius. On the unit circle (radius 1), the radian measure of an angle equals the length of the arc it cuts off, and a full circle is 2 × pi radians.

Worked example

A quarter of a circle is one fourth of 2 × pi = pi/2 radians. On the unit circle, that arc has length pi/2, which is about 1.57.

Practice questions

  1. How many radians are in a full circle?
  2. Convert 180 degrees to radians.
  3. On the unit circle, what arc length matches an angle of pi/3 radians?

Watch the lesson

Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.

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En español

Medida en radianes y longitud de arco

Un radián es el ángulo que subtiende un arco de longitud igual al radio. En el círculo unitario (radio 1), la medida en radianes de un ángulo es igual a la longitud del arco que abarca, y una circunferencia completa mide 2 × pi radianes.

Ejemplo: Un cuarto de circunferencia es la cuarta parte de 2 × pi = pi/2 radianes. En el círculo unitario, ese arco tiene longitud pi/2, aproximadamente 1.57.

More Functions lessons

Trigonometric Functions and the Unit CircleF-TF.A.2Equivalent Forms of a FunctionF-IF.C.8Comparing Functions in Different FormsF-IF.C.9Building Functions from Two QuantitiesF-BF.A.1Transformations of Function GraphsF-BF.B.3Inverse FunctionsF-BF.B.4

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