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css function

`atan2()` CSS function

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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 an angle between -180deg and 180deg, without implying any specific unit such as radians.

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 &lt;number&gt;, a &lt;dimension&gt;, or a &lt;percentage&gt;. Both values must be of the same type, although if they are &lt;dimension&gt; they can be of different units (example: atan2(100px, 5vw) is valid).

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

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

body {
  height: 100vh;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
  gap: 50px;
}
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

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.

Specifications

SpecificationsStandards references are available on the canonical MDN page.

Browser compatibility

Browser compatibilityCompatibility data is available on the canonical MDN page.

See also