2006-10-06 05:43:13 · 4 answers · asked by John B 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
As inxcalac said, 360 is easily divisible by so many numbers. It was used for the number of degrees in a circle long before we developed fractions or decimals or the number zero! Another reason 360 was chosen was because there are 365 (plus a bit) days in a year - not an exact match, but pretty close!
2006-10-06 06:44:32 · answer #1 · answered by kris 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because a circle is 360 degrees
so a quarter of a circle is 90 degrees
double that and you get 180
double again and your back to 360
2006-10-06 12:52:55 · answer #2 · answered by BigBadWolf 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
360 (a full circle) can be evenly divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9. You gotta love that. Who doesn't hate fractions?
Dick
2006-10-06 13:09:31 · answer #3 · answered by inxcalac 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
History dictates these things, not reason.
Actually, the military DOES divide the circle into 400 parts for purposes of aiming artillery. The resulting divisions are called grads. Many calculators have angular mode settings for degrees, radians and grads.
2006-10-06 12:49:48 · answer #4 · answered by Steve 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋