Video Transcript
How can you write 20 degrees, 25 minutes, and 59 seconds?
In this question, we’re asked to write down an angle given in degrees, minutes, and seconds; that’s 20 degrees, 25 minutes, and 59 seconds. To do this, we can write down the units of each part separately. Let’s start with 20 degrees. The units for degrees is a superscript circle as shown, so 20 degrees is 20 with a superscript circle. This tells us that this represents an angle in degrees.
Next, the unit for minutes has several different names. Some people call it a dash symbol; some people call it a prime symbol. In either case, the number of these symbols tells us the number of divisions by 60 that our units represents. So, because we have one dash, this tells us minutes or one sixtieth of a degree. And this also allows us to write 59 seconds. Remember, seconds are the second division of a degree by 60. So, 59 seconds would be 59 double dash.
Finally, we need to combine all of these three into one number. And this means we were able to show 20 degrees, 25 minutes, and 59 seconds can be represented as shown.
