{"id":1018,"date":"2016-07-20T02:19:58","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T02:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sqltutorial.org\/?page_id=1018"},"modified":"2025-03-16T23:17:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T06:17:42","slug":"sql-cos","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-math-functions\/sql-cos\/","title":{"rendered":"SQL COS Function"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The SQL <code>COS&nbsp;<\/code>function calculates the cosine of an input argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In math, given the ABC triangle, the cosine of an angle (A) is defined as the ratio between the length of the adjacent side (b) to the length of the hypotenuse (h) as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-1\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\">cos A = b \/ h<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-1\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"292\" height=\"306\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/SQL_trigonometry_triangle.png\" alt=\"SQL_trigonometry_triangle\" class=\"wp-image-1013\" title=\"SQL COS Function\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/SQL_trigonometry_triangle.png 292w, https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/SQL_trigonometry_triangle-286x300.png 286w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 292px) 100vw, 292px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For the inverse of the <code>COS<\/code>&nbsp;function, see the <a class=\"icon-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-functions\/sql-acos\/\"><code>ACOS<\/code><\/a>&nbsp;function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='syntax'>Syntax <a href=\"#syntax\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"syntax\" title=\"Anchor for Syntax\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The following illustrates the syntax of the <code>COS\u00a0<\/code>function:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-2\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\">COS(numeric_expression)<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-2\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='argument'>Argument <a href=\"#argument\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"argument\" title=\"Anchor for Argument\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <code>COS&nbsp;<\/code>function accepts a <code>numeric_expression<\/code> that represents the angle in radians for which the cosine is calculated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='return'>Return <a href=\"#return\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"return\" title=\"Anchor for Return\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <code>COS&nbsp;<\/code>function returns a floating-point number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='examples'>Examples <a href=\"#examples\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"examples\" title=\"Anchor for Examples\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The following example returns the cosines of 0, \u03c0, and \u03c0\/3.<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-3\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">COS<\/span>(<span class=\"hljs-number\">0<\/span>) cos_zero, \n       <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">COS<\/span>(<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">PI<\/span>()) cos_pi, \n       <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">COS<\/span>(<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">PI<\/span>()\/<span class=\"hljs-number\">3<\/span>) cos_one_third_pi;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-3\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-4\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"> cos_zero | cos_pi | cos_one_third_pi\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\">----------+--------+------------------<\/span>\n        1 |     -1 |              0.5\n(1 row)<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-4\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>Note that we use the&nbsp;<code>PI<\/code> function to get the \u03c0 constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most database systems support the <code>COS&nbsp;<\/code>function with the same behavior.<\/p>\n<div class=\"helpful-block-content\" data-title=\"\">\n\t<header>\n\t\t<div class=\"wth-question\">Was this tutorial helpful ?<\/div>\n\t\t<div 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In math, given the ABC triangle, the cosine of an angle (A) is defined as the ratio between the length of the adjacent side (b) to the length of the hypotenuse (h) as follows: For the inverse of the COS&nbsp;function, see the ACOS&nbsp;function. Syntax # [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1083,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1018","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SQL COS: Calculates Cosine of an Argument<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This tutorial explains the cosine concept and shows you how to use the SQL COS function to calculate the cosine of an argument.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-math-functions\/sql-cos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SQL COS: 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