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What is the advantage of using degrees (e.g. "30 degrees") versus radians (π/6)?

Regardless, your observations seem to come down to "12 is highly composite and we use highly composite numbers for time"—valid, but interesting?



Radians are superior IMO. Using degrees for measurement is archaic compared to radians, but I imagine whole arabic-numeral numbers are more familiar than PI symbols in the learning process at the point in life when most kids are first learning geometry something related to angles. Understanding PI symbols for the first time could possibly come alongside an algebra curriculum, but I'm not a K-12 educator so if I had an opinion, it wouldn't be worth any weight.

Meanwhile, your response got me to look up whether there's a metric equivalent to degrees or radians. Apparently that exists and it's a measure called Gradians. There are 400 Gradians in a circle, and 400 is not divisible by 12. I guess that idea went the way of the French Republican Calendar.


grad is used to measure the incline of the earth; you might see a 45-degree slope described as "50% grad".

And apparently, in what I have to assume is a related use:

> In surveying, the gradian is the default unit of angles in many parts of the world.

( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradian )

If you ever fooled around with your calculator in school, you probably noticed that it provided angle measurement conversion between degrees, radians, and gradians; the idea has certainly not gone the way of the French Republican Calendar.


> What is the advantage of using degrees (e.g. "30 degrees") versus radians (π/6)?

Integer math.




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