The TAN function in Oracle SQL is a trigonometric function that calculates the tangent of a given angle.
Like all trigonometric functions in Oracle, TAN requires the angle to be specified in radians, not degrees.
What is the TAN Function in Oracle?
The TAN(n) function takes a number n, which represents an angle in radians, and returns its tangent.
If your angle is in degrees, you must convert it to radians before passing it to the TAN function. The formula for conversion is: radians = degrees * (PI / 180).
TAN Function Syntax
The syntax for TAN is very simple:
TAN(n)
Let's break that down:
n(the number): The angle you want to find the tangent of, expressed in radians.
Oracle TAN Function Examples
Here are two practical examples of how to use TAN.
Example 1: Finding the Tangent of 45 Degrees
This example shows how to find the tangent of 45 degrees. We must first convert 45 degrees to radians using the formula 45 * (PI / 180). We will use 3.14159265359 as an approximation for PI.
Query:
SELECT
TAN(45 * 3.14159265359 / 180) AS "Tangent_of_45_Degrees"
FROM DUAL;
Result:
Tangent_of_45_Degrees
---------------------
1
Example 2: Finding the Tangent of 0 Degrees
This example calculates the tangent of 0 degrees (which is also 0 radians). The result is 0.
Query:
SELECT
TAN(0) AS "Tangent_of_0_Degrees"
FROM DUAL;
Result:
Tangent_of_0_Degrees
--------------------
0
