Re:U.S. eyes building nuclear power plants on the moon, Mars
by rrrrrrrrrrrryan on Monday July 27, 2020 @11:02PM
(#23971889)
360 is evenly divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, and 20.
0.02 radians would absolutely be a ridiculous unit of measurement if you were a carpenter or draftsman in the age before computing.
Re:U.S. eyes building nuclear power plants on the moon, Mars
by thaumasiotes on Tuesday July 28, 2020 @08:45PM
(#23982303)
> 360 is evenly divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, and 20.
But if you're trying to measure an angle, this is totally irrelevant. The angle is whatever it is.
Re:U.S. eyes building nuclear power plants on the moon, Mars
by lukeschlather on Sunday July 26, 2020 @01:49PM
(#23958761)
30/60 degrees are round numbers which are very useful for a lot of applications. Your .02 radian protractor doesn't have a mark on it for either.
Re:U.S. eyes building nuclear power plants on the moon, Mars
by thaumasiotes on Sunday July 26, 2020 @02:00PM
(#23958856)
Realistically, it probably would; those marks would just not fit into the progression of .02 radian marks. Ever seen a meter stick that also measured inches?
Are you trying to measure an angle, draw a particular angle, or confirm that an angle meets a particular standard?
Degrees are ridiculous if you're doing calculus. They don't really pose any problems if you're doing trig.
> but working with irrational fractions of pi is ridiculous if you're trying to measure with a protractor.
Sure, that's true, but that's only because irrational numbers are by definition infinitely precise. It's no more difficult to use a protractor labeled in increments of 0.02 radians than one labeled in increments of one degree.