Question

I am looking on a way to convert decimals to degrees in C. For instance, the asin() function in C returns a decimal number but I need that number to be in degrees ° minutes ‘ seconds “.

e.g. 1.5 would be 1°30’0″

Answer 1

The asin function returns radians. There are 2 π radians in a circle.

There are 360 degrees in a circle, 60 minutes in a degree, and 60 seconds in a minute. So there are 360*60*60 seconds in a circle.

double radians = asin(opposite / hypotenuse);
int totalSeconds = (int)round(radians * 360 * 60 * 60 / (2 * M_PI));
int seconds = totalSeconds % 60;
int minutes = (totalSeconds / 60) % 60;
int degrees = totalSeconds / (60 * 60);