Getting the correct arc length formula

trigonometry

You have your regular arc length formula: $l = r\theta$ where $\theta$ is in radians. Now you want to express the $\theta$ in degrees.

So you apply the $2\pi [rad] = 360[degrees]$ formula to the above equation, and you get
$$ 1[rad] = \frac{360 [degrees]}{2\pi}$$
$$ l=r\theta_{rad}=r\theta \frac{360degrees}{2\pi} $$
But my book says when you want to get arc length $l$ in degrees, the correct formula is $2\pi r\frac{\theta}{360}$, which is different from what I got above.

Can someone please explain why I get this result? Also apologies if this question is too simple to be posted here. I searched online but couldn't find a proper resource. Many thanks in advance!

[Update]
I missed a really simple definition which was
$\theta_{deg} = \theta_{rad} * \frac{360}{2\pi}$. After realizing it, everything began to make sense. Thanks to everyone that shared their answers!

Best Answer

$360^\circ = ~$ an arc length of $~2\pi.$

Therefore, $~1^\circ = ~$ an arc length of $\displaystyle ~\frac{2\pi}{360}.$

Therefore, $~l^\circ = ~$ an arc length of $\displaystyle ~\left[l \times \frac{2\pi}{360}\right].$

Another way of saying the same thing is that

$~l^\circ = ~$ corresponds to $\displaystyle ~~\left[l \times \frac{2\pi}{360}\right]~$ radians.

Related Question