# Trigonometry: finding the angle

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [May 7, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362 "2003-05-07T22:32:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![zylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d26b3c/32.png) [@zylum](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/zylum)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362/1 "2003-05-07T22:32:12Z")

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basically i have two movie clips. i know the x diff and the y diff, now how do i find the angle at which the movie clips are at?

```auto

                    v MC 2
                   /|
                  / |
                 / | < y diff
                / |
MC 1 > /__|
             ^ \
      angle x diff

```

i hope that’s clear enough

-mike

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362/2 "2003-05-07T22:33:06Z")

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ooops, the diagram got screwed up when i posted…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362/3 "2003-05-07T22:34:58Z")

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eh, i sort of fixed it for you…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362/4 "2003-05-07T22:36:44Z")

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thanks jubba 🙂

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362/5 "2003-05-07T23:15:39Z")

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rad\_deg = Math.PI / 180;  
angle = Math.atan2 (y\_diff, x\_diff);  
angle /= rad\_deg; //to convert to degrees

note: hope u know about CAST rule, cuz u need

maybe try reading about Math.atan also…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362/6 "2003-05-07T23:24:48Z")

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i tried that and it didn’t work. i probably didn’t do it right. here’s my script:

[AS]diffx = MC1.\_x - MC2.\_x  
diffy = MC1.\_y - MC2.\_y  
ang = Math.atan2(diffx, diffy);  
this.dx = Math.cos(this.ang)\*this.speed;  
this.dy = Math.sin(this.ang)_this.speed;  
this.\_x += this.dx;  
this.\_y += this.dy;  
this.\_rotation = this.ang_(180/Math.PI);[/AS]

i want MC1 to move towards MC2. maybe my approach is totaly wrong…:-\

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362/7 "2003-05-07T23:26:53Z")

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oh, yeah, the above script is in an onEnterFrame function and all that it does is make MC1 move to the right horizontaly

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362/8 "2003-05-07T23:26:58Z")

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ummm, do u know about the CAST rule?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362/9 "2003-05-07T23:28:06Z")

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nope, is it important? if it is can you please give a brief explanation? thatnks

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362/10 "2003-05-07T23:33:38Z")

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S | A  
**|** \_  
T | C

C: cosine  
A: all  
S: sine  
T: tangent  
these are the quadrant that are positive

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/trigonometry-finding-the-angle/20362/11 "2003-05-07T23:41:37Z")

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ahh… nevermind, simple scripting error, your way works. thanks a lot 🙂