What is math.atan() in Python?

The atan() functionalso called the arc tangent function returns the inverse tangent of a number. To be more specific, it returns the inverse tangent of a number in radians.

Figure 1 shows the mathematical representation of the atan() function and Figure 2 shows the visual representation of the atan() function.

Figure 1: Mathematical representation of inverse tangent function
Figure 2: Visual representation of inverse tangent function

Note: The math module is required for this function.

Tto convert radians to degrees, use:

degrees = radians * ( 180.0 / pi )

Syntax

atan(num)

Parameter

This function requires a number as a parameter. The parameter must be a double value between -1 and 1, i.e., -1 <= parameter <= 1.

Return value

atan() will return the inverse tangent of a number (radians) that is sent as a parameter. The return values lies in interval [-pi/2,pi/2] radians.

Example

import math
#positive number in radians
print "The value of atan(0.5) : ",  math.atan(0.5), "Radians"
#negative number in radians
print "The value of atan(-0.5) : ",  math.atan(-0.5), "Radians"
#applying atan() and then converting the result in radians to degrees
#radians = 1.0
#PI = 3.14159265
result = math.atan(1.0) * (180.0 / math.pi)
print "The value of atan(1.0) : ", result ,"Degrees"
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