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MATH 1330 - Section 4.2 - Radians, Arc Length, and Area of a Sector

Two rays that have a common endpoint (vertex) form an angle. One ray is the initial side
and the other is the terminal side. We typically will draw angles in the coordinate plane
with the initial side along the positive 𝑥-axis.

A
Terminal side


Vertex B
Initial Side C

∠𝐵, ∠𝐴𝐵𝐶, ∠𝐶𝐵𝐴, and 𝜃 are all notations for this angle. When using the notation ∠𝐴𝐵𝐶 and
∠𝐶𝐵𝐴 the vertex is always the middle letter.

We measure angles in two different ways, both of which rely on the idea of a complete
revolution in a circle. The first is degree measure. In this system of angle measure one
1
complete revolution is 360° . Therefore, one degree is 360 th of a circle.

The second method is called radian measure. One complete revolution is 2 . The
problems in this section are worked in radians. When there is no symbol next to an angle
measure, radians are assumed.

The Radian Measure of an Angle

Place the vertex of the angle at the center of a circle (central angle) of radius 𝑟. Let 𝑠 denote
the length of the arc intercepted by the angle. The radian measure 𝜃 of the angle is the
ratio of the arc length 𝑠 to the radius 𝑟. In symbols,
𝑠
𝜃=
𝑟
In this definition, it is assumed that 𝑠 and 𝑟 have the same linear units.


r

If the central angle 𝜃 and radius 𝑟 are given we can use the same formula to calculate the
arc length 𝑠 by applying the formula: 𝑠 = 𝑟𝜃.

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𝜋 12𝜋
Example: A central angle, 𝜃 = , in a circle intercepts an arc of length m. What is the
2 5
radius of the circle?
𝑠
Recall: 𝑟 = 𝜃.

Relationship between Degrees and Radians

How can we obtain a relationship between degrees and radians? We compare the number
of degrees and the number of radians in one complete rotation in a circle. We know that
360° is all the way around a circle. The length of the intercepted arc is equal to the
circumference of the circle. Therefore, the radian measure of this central angle is the
circumference of the circle divided by the circle’s radius, 𝑟. The circumference of a circle of
a radius 𝑟 is 2𝜋𝑟.

We use the formula for radian measure to find the radian measure of the 360° angle.

𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑙𝑒 2𝜋𝑟

𝜃= = = = 2𝜋
𝑟 𝑟 𝑟

So, 360° = 2𝜋 radians.

Dividing both sides by 2, we get 180° = 𝜋 radians. Dividing this last equation by 180° or 𝜋
gives the conversion rules that follow.

Conversion between Degrees and Radians

𝜋
1. To convert degrees to radians, multiply degrees by .
180°
180°
2. To convert radians to degrees, multiply radians by .
𝜋

Note: The unit you are converting to appear in the numerator of the conversion factor.

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Example: Convert each angle in degrees to radians.

a. 150° b. −135°

Example: Convert each angle in radians to degrees.

𝜋 2𝜋
a. 3 b. − 9

Common Angles (Memorize these!)

𝜋 𝜋
360° = 2𝜋 90° = 45° =
2 4
180° = 𝜋 60° =
𝜋
30° =
𝜋
3 6

Sector Area Formula

In a circle of radius 𝑟, the area 𝐴 of a sector with central angle of radian measure 𝜃 is given
by

1 2
𝐴= 𝑟 𝜃
2

Note: 𝜃 must be in radian measure!

𝜋 𝜋
Example: Given the area of sector of a circle is 3 in2 and the central angle is 6 , find the
radius.

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Example: Find the perimeter of a sector with central angle 60° and radius 3m.

Linear and Angular Velocity (Speed)

Consider a merry-go-round

edupics.com

The ride travels in a circular motion. Some of the horses are right along the edge of the
merry-go-round, and some are closer to the center. If you are on one of the horses at the
edge, you will travel farther than someone who is on a horse near the center. But the
length of time that both people will be on the ride is the same. If you were on the edge, not
only did you travel farther, you also traveled faster. However, everyone on the merry-go-
round travels through the same number of degrees (or radians).

There are two quantities we can measure from this, angular velocity and linear velocity.

The angular velocity of a point on a rotating object is the number of degrees (or radians or
revolutions) per unit of time through with the point turns.

This will be the same for all points on the rotating object. We let the Greek letter 𝜔
(omega) represent angular velocity. Using the definition above,

𝜃
𝜔=
𝑡

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The linear velocity of a point on the rotating object is the distance per unit of time that the
point travels along its circular path. This distance will depend on how far the point is from
the axis of rotation (for example, the center of the merry-go-round). We denote linear
velocity by 𝑣.
Using the definition above,
𝑠
𝑣=
𝑡
where 𝑠 is the arc length (𝑠 = 𝑟𝜃).

We can establish a relationship between the two kinds of speed by substituting 𝑠 = 𝑟𝜃 into
𝑠
𝑣=𝑡:

Example: If the speed of a revolving gear is 25 rpm (revolutions per minute)

a. Find the number of degrees per minute through which the gear turns.

b. Find the number of radians per minute through which the gear turns.

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Example: A Ferris wheel rotates 3 times each minute. The passengers sit in seats that are
25 feet from the center of the wheel.

a. Find the angular speed in units of radians/minute.

b. What is the linear velocity of the passengers in the seats?

Example: A particle is moving on the perimeter of a circle with radius 𝑟 = 5 with angular
𝜋
speed of 4 radians per second. After completing 3 full rotations, the particle traveled for 6
more seconds and stopped. What is the length of the total distance the particle traveled?

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