Secant Calculator

Calculate the secant of an angle in degrees or radians. Understand secant with unit circle visualization.

How to Use the Secant Calculator

Enter the angle value in the input field and select the unit (degrees or radians). Click 'Calculate' to find the secant of the angle. The result will be displayed below, and you can visualize it on the unit circle. Use 'Reset' to clear inputs and results.

Enter Angle

Select Unit

Result

Secant() =

Unit Circle Visualization of Secant

Understanding Secant

In trigonometry, the secant (sec) of an angle in a right triangle is defined as the ratio of the length of the hypotenuse to the length of the adjacent side. It is also the reciprocal of the cosine function.

Formula:

$$ sec(\theta) = \frac{1}{cos(\theta)} = \frac{\text{Hypotenuse}}{\text{Adjacent}} $$

The unit circle provides a visual way to understand trigonometric functions. For an angle θ in standard position, the secant is represented by the length from the origin along the x-axis to the point where the tangent line at the point (cos(θ), sin(θ)) intersects the x-axis.

This calculator helps you find the secant of an angle and visualize it on the unit circle, making it easier to grasp this trigonometric concept.

For further reading, you can refer to resources like: