Vertical distance
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Horizontal distance
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Angle of depression
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# Angle of Depression Calculator

By Kenneth Alambra
Last updated: Dec 09, 2020

This angle of depression calculator determines the angle by which an inclined line deviates from the horizontal towards the downwards direction. Like in our elevation grade calculator, this calculator uses the concept of an angle's slope.

In this calculator, you will learn about what the angle of depression is, and how to find the angle of depression. After reading this text, you will be finding the angles of depression everywhere with the angle of depression formula. Let's get started!

## What is the angle of depression? Angle of depression definition

The simplest angle of depression definition is that it is the angle between the horizontal and the part of a line that is below the horizontal. In the image below, as the cat looks downwards towards point A, it creates a certain angle of depression from the horizontal.

Sometimes we may also see the angle of depression used to express the slope of a surface such as a mountainside, or a roadway. However, for such information we typically use the counterpart of the angle of depression - the elevation grade.

## The angle of depression calculator. How to find the angle of depression?

Since we now know what the angle of depression is, let's learn how to find it! We can determine the angle of depression using surveying equipment like an engineer's transit or a clinometer. These devices are optical instruments that have angle-measurement features and can instantly give us the angle that we need. However, we can also use mathematics to find the angle of depression. But first, we need to know two distances: the horizontal distance between the viewer and the object, and their vertical distance, as shown in the illustration below:

If you already have the values of these measurements, you can now input them into our angle of depression calculator. To do it manually, substitute these values in the angle of depression formula which is derived from the arctangent function in trigonometry.

We use the arctangent function because, if we look closer at the dimensions concerned, we can see that we have actually formed a right triangle, and that we are dealing with the sides adjacent and opposite to the angle we are interested in. With that said, below is the angle of depression formula:

`angle of depression = arctan(vertical distance / horizontal distance)`

## Sample calculation of finding the angle of depression

Time for an angle of depression example. Suppose we need to find the angle of depression, `α`, of the boy's line of sight from the top of the slide towards the girl at the bottom of the slide, as shown in the illustration below. We can see that the horizontal distance between the children is `3.0 meters` and the vertical distance between their line of sights is `1.5 meters`.

Using the angle of depression formula, we calculate angle of depression `α` as follows:

` α = arctan(vertical distance / horizontal distance)`

`α = arctan(1.5 meters / 3.0 meters)`

`α = arctan(0.5)`

`α = 26.56505118° ≈` `26.565°`

From the calculation above, we can now say that the angle of depression, α, is around 26.565° from the horizontal.