`atan2()` CSS function

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since March 2023.

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

css

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

y: The y-coordinate of the point. A calculation which resolves to a <number>, a <dimension>, or a <percentage>.
x: The x-coordinate of the point. A calculation which resolves to a <number>, a <dimension>, or a <percentage>.

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

<atan2()> = 
  atan2( <calc-sum> , <calc-sum> )  

<calc-sum> = 
  <calc-product> [ [ '+' | '-' ] <calc-product> ]*  

<calc-product> = 
  <calc-value> [ [ '*' | / ] <calc-value> ]*  

<calc-value> = 
  <number>        |
  <dimension>     |
  <percentage>    |
  <calc-keyword>  |
  ( <calc-sum> )  

<calc-keyword> = 
  e          |
  pi         |
  infinity   |
  -infinity  |
  NaN

Examples

Rotate elements

The atan2() function can be used to rotate elements as it return an <angle> .

HTML

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;
}

css

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));
}