Trigonometric Functions

To find the angle between two points, draw a right triangle from the points. Label the angle as θ (theta). Label the sides of the triangle as opposite, adjacent, and hypotenuse. Example using the points (0, 0) and (4, 3):
right triangle
Use the trigonometric functions to calculate θ. The three main trigonometric functions are sine, cosine, and tangent. Each of them can be used to calculate an angle in a right triange by taking the ratios of the different sides of the triangle:
trigonometric functions
In this example, the opposite and adjacent sides are known, so use the tangent function to calculate the angle:
tangent
To solve for θ, do the inverse tangent to both sides, also known as the arctangent:
arctangent
Plug that into a computer to get the value of the angle.