can you tell me how you got 16.7 as the answer to the question: tan x degree= 0.3, find the value of x to the nearest tenth. I have a similar problem (.5 instead of .3) and I don't know how to do it. What would the keystrokes on my calculator be?

Question

can you tell me how you got 16.7 as the answer to the question: tan x degree= 0.3, find the value of x to the nearest tenth.  I have a similar problem (.5 instead of .3) and I don't know how to do it.  What would the keystrokes on my calculator be?

anonymous · Answer

That depends on the type of calculator you're using. Anyway, on my TI 84 it's 
2nd -> tan -> .3
What that's doing is using the tan^-1(x) function (or arctan)
Make sure your calculator is in degree mode