How to Convert Latitude and Longitude Units from Decimal Form to Degrees

Last Updated: April 8, 2021

Do you own a FREE copy of Google Earth? Have you ever noticed the form they use for tracking your location on a map? They use decimal form? So you can better reorient yourself when using a map using this coordinate, you'll need to convert it. This article will explain to you how to convert this coordinate, so you can better find yourself.

Steps

1
Grab your problematic degrees problem.
2
Write down the degree portion on one side of the paper. This will stay the same no matter what part you obtain at the end.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Decimal form to Degrees and Minutes

1
Obtain and multiply the decimal form of the decimal form to the right of the calculation measurement by 60. If the item is located at 30.08833, you can rest assured that the degrees will always be the same (to the left of the decimal point).
2
Write down the answer you obtain. This will become your minutes portion.
- Be sure to include your units, which, as the answer to this problem signifies, should be degrees and minutes, and, if this problem is a vector, display it's direction in which the item is pointing at.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Decimal Form to Degree, Minutes, and Seconds

1
Continue from where the top portion left off (if you'd like to go even further out with your calculations). Look at the new displayed decimal portion to the right of the calculated value that you obtained from converting the decimal into minutes.
2
Multiply the decimal part of the minutes portion you obtained above by 60.
3
Write down this number to the right of the minutes portion. This answer will have become the seconds. This may even become a decimal itself, but it will be far closer to a real number than what the decimal form showed us.
- Be sure to include your units, which for this problem, should then be in degrees, minutes and seconds. If this object is a vector, include the direction.

Community Q&A

Question

How do I set units to decimal degrees?

Jace Fear

Community Answer

Open ArcMap. Right Click on Layers. Select properties. Goto General tab. in Unit Section select your desired map unit e.g. Decimal Degrees. Click OK.