[Solved] Formula doesn't work

[jackamus]

This formula =tan^-1*(A2) produces an error result like (hash)Name?
What am I doing wrong?

[FJCC]

TAN() is a function but you are not giving it anything to operate on. Do you mean the reciprocal of the tangent of A2

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=1/TAN(A2)

or the inverse tangent of A2

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=ATAN(A2)

or something else?

[jackamus]

I am trying to calculate a helix angle using these 2 figures 69 (base of triangle) and 12 the height. This produces a tangent of 0.1739. I then do =Tan^-1*(the cell that this figure is in) and then get the error. All I want to do is find the angle of the tangent in spread sheet.

[FJCC]

If the value 0.1739 is in A2, you can use the formula

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=ATAN(A2)

to get the angle in radians. ATAN() is the function for the inverse tangent. Tan^-1 is not recognized by Calc as the inverse tangent.

[jackamus]

A2 has the figure 0.1739. When I then use a new cell and put in =ATAN(A2) I get 0.172178154. I was expecting to get an angle.

[FJCC]

You did get an angle in radians. 180 degrees is equal to pi radians, so you can get an answer in degrees with the formula

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=ATAN(A2) * 180/PI()

[jackamus]

We have lift-off! Thank you for your help.