Radian mode (1 Viewer)

[Ernst]

When do have have to put your calculator in radian mode? Sorry for the stupid question but this confuses me.

 

[B35tY]

If the question is dealing with radians (it won't have a degrees sign, and the angle will usually be in terms of pi), you would use radians in your calculations.

Alternatively, sometimes you can just use degrees all the way through, and convert to radians at the end.

Do some prac questions, you'll see what i mean.

 

[thepiman]

In the HSC courses (2U, 3U, 4U), only use degrees for trigonometric calculations i.e. sides of triangles etc.
Any other content, use radians, unless of course it says degrees. Be careful with sketches, they will give you either degrees or radians to use.
A good idea would be to take two calculators into the exam, but put a red rubber band around one which is always on radians. Good Luck!
Note: Applications of Calculus to the Physical World, Newtons Method etc. use RADIANS.

 

[Riviet]

A good practice that I've gotten myself into is checking what mode my calculator is in just before I input a trig function. It's saved me many times in exams.

 

[jed.hamers]

You don't need to use radian mode at all. Just convert it. Cos if you leave it in rad mode it'll stuff up all your answers (but you should notice sson enough).

Area to remember-->

Area of Segment = Sector - triangle
Area of Segment = 1/2 r^2 @ - 1/2 r^2 sin@

remember that @ in sector is radians, and @ in triangle is degrees.
@- theta(speeling??)

180 = pi
1 = pi/180