About US WW2 Milliradians
During World War II, milliradians (mils) and radians played a crucial role in various military operations. Milliradians are a unit of angular measurement commonly used in artillery and long-range shooting. They are derived from the concept of a radian, which is the angle subtended at the center of a circle by an arc equal in length to the radius of the circle. A milliradian is equal to one-thousandth of a radian, making it a more precise unit for measuring small angles.
In the context of World War II, milliradians were used extensively by artillery units to calculate the elevation and azimuth angles required to accurately hit targets at long distances. Artillery gunners would use specialized instruments, such as the M2A2 aiming circle, to measure the angle between the target and the gun. By converting this angle into milliradians, gunners could then adjust the elevation and direction of the gun to ensure accurate fire. This was particularly important in situations where targets were located far away or obscured by terrain, as milliradians allowed for precise adjustments to be made, increasing the chances of hitting the target successfully.
There are 4,000 US WW2 milliradians in a full circle.
About Gradians
Gradians, also known as gons or grads, divide a circle into 400 equal parts. This means that a right angle is equal to 100 gradians, a full circle is 400 gradians, and so on. Gradians were introduced as an alternative to degrees and radians, aiming to provide a more convenient and decimal-based system for measuring angles.
While gradians are not as commonly used as degrees or radians, they do have their applications. For example, they are often used in surveying and navigation, where angles need to be measured and calculated with high precision. Additionally, gradians can be easily converted to degrees or radians, making them a versatile unit of measurement.
While radians are the standard unit for measuring angles in mathematics and physics, gradians offer an alternative system that can be useful in specific fields. Whether it's for precise measurements in surveying or for converting between different angle units, gradians provide a decimal-based approach to quantifying angles.