finding angles 0-360

Question

Need help with a math issue: i need to get the true angle from 0 degrees using x and y cordinates im using this at the moment:

Math.atan((x2-x1)/(y1-y2))/(Ma         


        

Answer 1

The atan function only gives half the unit circle between -pi/2 and +pi/2 (0 on x axis), there is another library function that can give the whole unit circle between -pi and + pi, atan2

I would think you are better of using atan2 to get the right quadrant rather than branching yourself, then just scale as you have been, something like

Math.atan2(y2 - y1, x2 - x1) * 180 / Math.PI + 180

The multiply by 180 over pi is just the scale from radians to degrees as in the question (but with the division by a division simplified), the +180 makes sure its always positive i.e. 0-360 deg rather than -180 to 180 deg