Documentation/Calc Functions/TAN

Function name:
TAN

Category:
Mathematical

Summary:
Calculates the trigonometric tangent (tan) of an angle expressed in radians.

Syntax:
TAN(Number)

Returns:
Returns a real number that is the trigonometric tangent of the specified angle.

Arguments:
Number is a real number, or a reference to a cell containing that number, that is the angle in radians whose trignometric tangent is to be calculated.


 * If Number is non-numeric, then TAN reports a #VALUE! error.

Additional details:
If your angle is expressed in degrees, either multiply by PI/180 or use the RADIANS function to convert to radians.

The formula for the trigonometric tangent of x is:

$$\tan(x)~=~\frac{1}{\cot(x)}~=~\frac{\sin(x)}{\cos(x)}$$

Mathematically, the tangent of any odd multiple of π/2, i.e. {......-3π/2, -π/2, π/2, 3π/2.....} is undefined. However, because of the inherent inaccuracy in representing π numerically, TAN does not report errors for arguments close to these values. You should be aware that TAN will return large positive or negative results for odd multiples of π/2.

The figure below illustrates the function TAN.



Related LibreOffice functions:
ATAN

ATAN2

COS

COT

CSC

SEC

SIN

ODF standard:
Section 6.16.69, Part 2

Equivalent Excel functions:
TAN