What is a 2% slope in degrees?

A 2% grade means 2 units of rise per 100 units of horizontal run. Its decimal slope is 0.02 and its angle is arctan(0.02), about 1.14576°. A 2° angle is different: it corresponds to about 3.49208% grade.

How do I convert degrees to percentage slope?

Select Angle, enter degrees and read Percent grade. The formula is 100 × tan(angle): 5° is about 8.74887%, 10° is 17.6327%, and 45° is 100%. Negative angles give negative grades, describing a line that falls to the right.

Why is 100% slope only 45 degrees?

Percent grade compares vertical rise with horizontal run. At 100%, those lengths are equal, forming a 45° angle. As the angle approaches vertical, the run approaches zero and the grade grows without bound. A vertical line has undefined slope.

How do I convert a slope ratio to percent or degrees?

Select Rise and run and enter both lengths in the same units. For a rise-to-run ratio of 1:20, use rise 1 and run 20 to obtain 5% and about 2.86241°. Check the ratio convention: horizontal-to-vertical notation reverses the inputs.

Percent Slope and Angle Converter

Enter a percent grade to find its angle from horizontal, or switch to Angle to convert degrees to percent slope. The graph and result rows show the same incline as an angle, a decimal slope, a percent grade and rise per 12. This converts a stated incline; it does not choose a design slope.

Grade & angle · slope = rise / run0.02slope1.15° · 2% grade

Mode

Given

Grade (%)

Percent grade is 100 × rise / horizontal run. Enter a grade or an angle; a 100% grade is 45°, not 90°.

Percent gradeslope × 100
2%
Angledegrees above horizontal, arctan of the slope
1.14576283818°
Sloperise / run
0.02
Pitchrise per 12 of run
0.24:12

The same line in several forms. Slope is rise divided by run. The angle is the arctangent of the slope, in degrees above horizontal, so 45 degrees is a slope of 1. Percent grade is the slope times 100, the number a road sign uses. Distance is the straight length between the two points, from Pythagoras. The equation is the slope-intercept form y = mx + b, with b where the line crosses the y axis. And a roof pitch is the same slope written as the rise per 12 of run, so 6:12 is a slope of 0.5, a 50% grade and an angle of 26.57 degrees. A vertical line has no slope at all: the run is 0, and the tool says so instead of printing infinity.

Common questions

What is a 2% slope in degrees?: A 2% grade means 2 units of rise per 100 units of horizontal run. Its decimal slope is 0.02 and its angle is arctan(0.02), about 1.14576°. A 2° angle is different: it corresponds to about 3.49208% grade.
How do I convert degrees to percentage slope?: Select Angle, enter degrees and read Percent grade. The formula is 100 × tan(angle): 5° is about 8.74887%, 10° is 17.6327%, and 45° is 100%. Negative angles give negative grades, describing a line that falls to the right.
Why is 100% slope only 45 degrees?: Percent grade compares vertical rise with horizontal run. At 100%, those lengths are equal, forming a 45° angle. As the angle approaches vertical, the run approaches zero and the grade grows without bound. A vertical line has undefined slope.
How do I convert a slope ratio to percent or degrees?: Select Rise and run and enter both lengths in the same units. For a rise-to-run ratio of 1:20, use rise 1 and run 20 to obtain 5% and about 2.86241°. Check the ratio convention: horizontal-to-vertical notation reverses the inputs.

Double-precision geometry from your numbers. Equations round coefficients to four decimal places; other readings show up to twelve significant digits. This calculates a line's geometry, not structural capacity or construction compliance.