Python math.degrees() Method

The Python math.degrees() method converts an angle from radians to degrees. Generally, an angle is measured in 3 units: revolutions, radians and degrees. In trigonometry, however, the common way to measure an angle is either in radians or degrees. Therefore, it becomes important to be able to convert these measurement units from one to another.

The degrees() method accepts a radian value as an argument and converts it into the corresponding degrees.

Note − This function is not accessible directly, so we need to import math module and then we need to call this function using math static object.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for the Python math.degrees() method −

math.degrees(x)

Parameters

  • x − This must be a numeric value.

Return Value

This method returns degree value of an angle.

Example

The following example shows the usage of the Python math.degrees() method. In here, we are passing an angle "pi", in radians, as an argument to this method. It is expected to be converted into its corresponding degrees.

import math

# Take the angle in radians
x = 3.14
y = -3.14

# Convert it into degrees using math.degrees() function
deg_x = math.degrees(x)
deg_y = math.degrees(y)

# Display the degrees
print("The degrees value of x is:", deg_x)
print("The degrees value of y is:", deg_y)

When we run above program, it produces following result −

The degrees value of x is: 179.9087476710785
The degrees value of y is: -179.9087476710785

Example

But if we pass an invalid number (or NaN) as an argument to the method, the return value will also be invalid (or NaN).

import math

# Take the nan value in float
x = float("nan")

# Convert it into degrees using math.degrees() function
deg = math.degrees(x)

# Display the degrees
print("The degrees value of x is:", deg)

If we compile and run the given program, the output is displayed as follows −

The degrees value of x is: nan

Example

This method accepts only floating-point values as its arguments. If an object like numbered sequence is passed as its argument, the method raises TypeError.

In the following example, we are creating a list object containing a sequence of angles in radians. We are then passing this list as an argument to this method. Even though the list contains angles in radians, the method returns a TypeError.

import math

# Take the angle list in radians
x = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

# Convert it into degrees using math.degrees() function
deg = math.degrees(x)

# Display the degrees
print("The degrees value of the list is:", deg)


Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "main.py", line 7, in 
deg = math.degrees(x)
TypeError: must be real number, not list

Example

In order to convert objects in a sequence into degrees using this method, we must pass each value in the sequence as an argument each time this method is called. Hence, we can use loop statements to iterate through the said iterable.

import math

# Take the angle list in radians
x = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

for n in range (0, len(x)):
   # Convert it into degrees using math.degrees() function
   deg = math.degrees(x[n])
   # Display the degrees
   print("The degree value of", x[n], "is:", deg)

Compile and run the above program, to produce the following result −

The degree value of 1 is: 57.29577951308232
The degree value of 2 is: 114.59155902616465
The degree value of 3 is: 171.88733853924697
The degree value of 4 is: 229.1831180523293
The degree value of 5 is: 286.4788975654116
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