Arctangent

Definition

The arctangent of a number is the angle whose tangent is that number. It gives us the measure of an angle in radians or degrees.

Related terms

Tangent: A trigonometric function that relates the ratio of opposite side length to adjacent side length in a right triangle.

Inverse Function: A function that undoes another function. In this case, arctangent is the inverse function of tangent.

Quadrant: One of four regions into which the coordinate plane is divided by the x-axis and y-axis. Arctangent values can be positive or negative depending on which quadrant they fall into.