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Chapter 3: Manual Calculations
D CONV
Sexagesimal
and Degree
System
2 →dms
48
CONV sub-menu items are to be used when converting a number
in decimal form (degrees) to a number in sexagesimal form
(degrees, minutes, seconds), or vice versa, and rectangular/polar
coordinate conversion.
The "base 60" sexagesimal system, as well as the minutes-
second measurement system, was invented by the Sumerians,
who lived in the Mesopotamia area around the fourth millennium
B.C. The notion of a 360 degrees system to measure angles was
introduced to the world by Hipparchus (555-514 B.C.) and
Ptolemy (2nd cent. A.D.), about 5000 years later. We still use
these ancient systems today, and this calculator supports both
formats.
1 →deg
value (sexagesimal number) →deg
Takes a number in sexagesimal form, and converts it
into a decimal number. To enter a number in
sexagesimal form, use items in the "ANGLE" sub-
menu, described in the next subsection of this Chapter.
Example
• Convert 34° 56' 78" to
degrees.
3 4 M E 1 5
6 M 2 7 8 M
3 M D
1 E
value (degrees) →dms
Takes a number in decimal form (in degrees), and
converts it into a sexagesimal number.
Example
• Show 40.0268 degrees in
degrees, minutes, and
seconds.
4 0 . 0268 M
D 2 E
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