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atan2()

The atan2() CSS function is a trigonometric function that returns the inverse tangent of two values between -infinity and infinity. The function accepts two arguments and returns the number of radians representing an <angle> between -180deg and 180deg.

Syntax

/* Two <number> values */
transform: rotate(atan2(3, 2));

/* Two <dimension> values */
transform: rotate(atan2(1rem, -0.5rem));

/* Two <percentage> values */
transform: rotate(atan2(20%, -30%));

/* Other values */
transform: rotate(atan2(pi, 45));
transform: rotate(atan2(e, 30));

Parameters

The atan2(y, x) function accepts two comma-separated values as its parameters. Each value can be a <number>, a <dimension>, or a <percentage>. Both values must be of the same type, although if they are <dimension> they can be of different units (example: atan2(100px, 5vw) is valid).

y

The y-coordinate of the point. A calculation which resolves to a <number>, a <dimension>, or a <percentage>.

x

The x-coordinate of the point. A calculation which resolves to a <number>, a <dimension>, or a <percentage>.

Return value

Given two values x and y, the function atan2(y, x) calculates and returns the <angle> between the positive x-axis and the ray from the origin to the point (x, y).

Formal syntax

<atan2()> = 
atan2( <calc-sum> , <calc-sum> )

<calc-sum> =
<calc-product> [ [ '+' | '-' ] <calc-product> ]*

<calc-product> =
<calc-value> [ [ '*' | '/' ] <calc-value> ]*

<calc-value> =
<number> |
<dimension> |
<percentage> |
<calc-constant> |
( <calc-sum> )

<calc-constant> =
e |
pi |
infinity |
-infinity |
NaN

Examples

Rotate elements

The atan2() function can be used to rotate elements as it return an <angle>.

HTML

<div class="box box-1"></div>
<div class="box box-2"></div>
<div class="box box-3"></div>
<div class="box box-4"></div>
<div class="box box-5"></div>

CSS

div.box {
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  background: linear-gradient(orange, red);
}
div.box-1 {
  transform: rotate(atan2(3, 2));
}
div.box-2 {
  transform: rotate(atan2(3%, -2%));
}
div.box-3 {
  transform: rotate(atan2(-1, 0.5));
}
div.box-4 {
  transform: rotate(atan2(1, 0.5));
}
div.box-5 {
  transform: rotate(atan2(1rem, -0.5rem));
}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
atan2 111 111 108 No 97 15.4 111 111 108 No 15.4 No

See also

© 2005–2023 MDN contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/atan2