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ACOS function (ODBC compatible)

Syntax

ACOS ( expression )

Description

The scalar function ACOS returns the arccosine of expression.

Example

select acos (.5) 'Arccosine in radians' from syscalctable;
ARCCOSINE IN RAD
----------------
1.047197551196598
1 record selected
select acos (.5) * (180/ pi()) 'Arccosine in degrees' from syscalctable;
ARCCOSINE IN DEG
----------------
59.999999999999993
1 record selected

Notes

ACOS takes the ratio (expression) of two sides of a right triangle and returns the corresponding angle. The ratio is the length of the side adjacent to the angle divided by the length of the hypotenuse.

The result is expressed in radians and is in the range -Pi/2 to Pi/2 radians. To convert degrees to radians, multiply degrees by Pi/180. To convert radians to degrees, multiply radians by 180/Pi.

  • Expression must be in the range -1 to 1.
  • Expression must evaluate to an approximate numeric data type.