xref: /freebsd/lib/msun/man/atan2.3 (revision c11e094d96120a2e0e726ed9705ae0ec08db49b6)
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32.\"     from: @(#)atan2.3	5.1 (Berkeley) 5/2/91
33.\" $FreeBSD$
34.\"
35.Dd May 2, 1991
36.Dt ATAN2 3
37.Os
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm atan2 ,
40.Nm atan2f
41.Nd arc tangent functions of two variables
42.Sh LIBRARY
43.Lb libm
44.Sh SYNOPSIS
45.In math.h
46.Ft double
47.Fn atan2 "double y" "double x"
48.Ft float
49.Fn atan2f "float y" "float x"
50.Sh DESCRIPTION
51The
52.Fn atan2
53and the
54.Fn atan2f
55functions compute the principal value of the arc tangent of
56.Fa y/ Ns Ar x ,
57using the signs of both arguments to determine the quadrant of
58the return value.
59.Sh RETURN VALUES
60The
61.Fn atan2
62and the
63.Fn atan2f
64functions, if successful,
65return the arc tangent of
66.Fa y/ Ns Ar x
67in the range
68.Bk -words
69.Bq \&- Ns \*(Pi , \&+ Ns \*(Pi
70.Ek
71radians.
72If both
73.Fa x
74and
75.Fa y
76are zero, the global variable
77.Va errno
78is set to
79.Er EDOM .
80On the
81.Tn VAX :
82.Bl -column atan_(y,x)_:=____  sign(y)_(Pi_atan2(Xy_xX))___
83.It Fn atan2 y x No := Ta
84.Fn atan y/x Ta
85if
86.Ar x
87> 0,
88.It Ta sign( Ns Ar y Ns )*(\*(Pi -
89.Fn atan "\\*(Bay/x\\*(Ba" ) Ta
90if
91.Ar x
92< 0,
93.It Ta
94.No 0 Ta
95if x = y = 0, or
96.It Ta
97.Pf sign( Ar y Ns )*\\*(Pi/2 Ta
98if
99.Ar x
100= 0 \(!=
101.Ar y .
102.El
103.Sh NOTES
104The function
105.Fn atan2
106defines "if x > 0,"
107.Fn atan2 0 0
108= 0 on a
109.Tn VAX
110despite that previously
111.Fn atan2 0 0
112may have generated an error message.
113The reasons for assigning a value to
114.Fn atan2 0 0
115are these:
116.Bl -enum -offset indent
117.It
118Programs that test arguments to avoid computing
119.Fn atan2 0 0
120must be indifferent to its value.
121Programs that require it to be invalid are vulnerable
122to diverse reactions to that invalidity on diverse computer systems.
123.It
124The
125.Fn atan2
126function is used mostly to convert from rectangular (x,y)
127to polar
128.if n\
129(r,theta)
130.if t\
131(r,\(*h)
132coordinates that must satisfy x =
133.if n\
134r\(**cos theta
135.if t\
136r\(**cos\(*h
137and y =
138.if n\
139r\(**sin theta.
140.if t\
141r\(**sin\(*h.
142These equations are satisfied when (x=0,y=0)
143is mapped to
144.if n \
145(r=0,theta=0)
146.if t \
147(r=0,\(*h=0)
148on a VAX.  In general, conversions to polar coordinates
149should be computed thus:
150.Bd -unfilled -offset indent
151.if n \{\
152r	:= hypot(x,y);  ... := sqrt(x\(**x+y\(**y)
153theta	:= atan2(y,x).
154.\}
155.if t \{\
156r	:= hypot(x,y);  ... := \(sr(x\u\s82\s10\d+y\u\s82\s10\d)
157\(*h	:= atan2(y,x).
158.\}
159.Ed
160.It
161The foregoing formulas need not be altered to cope in a
162reasonable way with signed zeros and infinities
163on a machine that conforms to
164.Tn IEEE 754 ;
165the versions of
166.Xr hypot 3
167and
168.Fn atan2
169provided for
170such a machine are designed to handle all cases.
171That is why
172.Fn atan2 \(+-0 \-0
173= \(+-\*(Pi
174for instance.
175In general the formulas above are equivalent to these:
176.Bd -unfilled -offset indent
177.if n \
178r := sqrt(x\(**x+y\(**y); if r = 0 then x := copysign(1,x);
179.if t \
180r := \(sr(x\(**x+y\(**y);\0\0if r = 0 then x := copysign(1,x);
181.Ed
182.El
183.Sh SEE ALSO
184.Xr acos 3 ,
185.Xr asin 3 ,
186.Xr atan 3 ,
187.Xr cos 3 ,
188.Xr cosh 3 ,
189.Xr math 3 ,
190.Xr sin 3 ,
191.Xr sinh 3 ,
192.Xr tan 3 ,
193.Xr tanh 3
194.Sh STANDARDS
195The
196.Fn atan2
197function conforms to
198.St -isoC .
199