COS
COS(angle) takes radians: =COS(RADIANS(60)) is 0.5. Worked examples, converting from degrees, and why =COS(90) is not zero. Matches Excel.
Syntax
COS(number)| Argument | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
number | Required | The angle, in radians. |
Examples
Every example below was executed against VisiGrid engine 0.54.0 — not
transcribed from another vendor's documentation. Reproduce any of them with vgrid calc.
| Formula | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
=COS(0) | 1 | |
=COS(PI()) | -1 | Half a turn. |
=COS(RADIANS(60)) | 0.50 | Sixty degrees, converted to radians first. |
=SIN(0.5)^2+COS(0.5)^2 | 1 | The Pythagorean identity holds for any angle. |
Splitting a length into components
Something of length L at angle θ covers L*COS(θ) horizontally and L*SIN(θ)
vertically. A 10 metre ramp at 60 degrees:
=10*COS(RADIANS(60)) → 5— five metres across the floor. The same split turns a speed and heading into east and north components, or a force into its parts.
Degrees need converting
COS(60) is the cosine of sixty radians, not sixty degrees, and it returns a
number rather than an error. Convert with RADIANS first.
Excel compatibility
Matches Excel. Angles are in radians.