MongoDB $acos Operator

Posted in mongoDB Tutorial

Updated on Oct 30, 2024

By Mari Selvan

👁️ 17 - Views

⏳ 4 mins

💬 1 Comment

Photo Credit to CodeToFun

🙋 Introduction

In MongoDB's aggregation framework, the $acos operator offers a powerful tool for computing the arccosine (inverse cosine) of a given number. This operator is particularly useful in scenarios where you need to perform trigonometric computations on numerical data.

Let's delve into the details of how the $acos operator can be effectively utilized within MongoDB's aggregation pipelines.

💡 Syntax

The syntax for the $acos method is straightforward:

syntax.js

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{ $acos: <expression> }

$acos: This operator indicates that the subsequent operation will compute the arccosine.
<expression>: This represents the numerical expression for which the arccosine will be calculated. It could be a field reference, a mathematical expression, or a value.

📝 Example

⌨️ Input

Consider a collection named angles containing documents with fields cosine representing cosine values of angles. Here are sample documents from the angles collection:

Input

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[
  { "_id": ObjectId("609c26812e9274a86871bc6a"), "cosine": 0.5 },
  { "_id": ObjectId("609c26812e9274a86871bc6b"), "cosine": 0.866 },
  { "_id": ObjectId("609c26812e9274a86871bc6c"), "cosine": 0.707 }
]

🔄 Aggregation

Suppose we want to compute the corresponding angles (in radians) for each cosine value. Here's how you can achieve this using the $acos operator:

example.js

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db.angles.aggregate([
  {
    $project: {
      angleRadians: { $acos: "$cosine" }
    }
  }
])

🧩 Explanation

$project: This stage reshapes documents by including or excluding fields.
$acos: Computes the arccosine of the cosine value, yielding the corresponding angle in radians.

When discussing how the above aggregation works:

For the first document with _id 609c26812e9274a86871bc6a, the cosine value is 0.5. The arccosine of 0.5 is 1.0471975511965979 radians.
For the second document with _id 609c26812e9274a86871bc6b, the cosine value is 0.866. The arccosine of 0.866 is 0.5235987755982988 radians.
For the third document with _id 609c26812e9274a86871bc6c, the cosine value is 0.707. The arccosine of 0.707 is 0.7853981633974483 radians.

💻 Output

Now, let's take a look at the output generated by the aggregation pipeline:

Output

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{ "_id": ObjectId("609c26812e9274a86871bc6a"), "angleRadians": 1.047 }
{ "_id": ObjectId("609c26812e9274a86871bc6b"), "angleRadians": 0.524 }
{ "_id": ObjectId("609c26812e9274a86871bc6c"), "angleRadians": 0.785 }

📚 Use Cases

Geometric Computations:

The $acos operator facilitates the computation of angles, particularly in scenarios involving triangles or vectors.
Robotics and Engineering:

In robotics and engineering applications, knowing angles is crucial for tasks such as robot motion planning and mechanical design.
Trigonometric Analysis:

MongoDB's $acos operator can be employed in various scientific and engineering domains for tasks such as signal processing or data visualization.

🎉 Conclusion

The $acos operator in MongoDB's aggregation framework provides a convenient means of computing arccosine values within aggregation pipelines. Whether you're dealing with geometric data, engineering simulations, or scientific experiments, mastering the usage of $acos empowers you to perform advanced trigonometric computations and gain deeper insights into your datasets.

With its intuitive syntax and diverse applications, the $acos operator proves to be a valuable asset for handling numerical data effectively within MongoDB. Incorporate it into your aggregation pipelines to unlock new dimensions of data analysis and gain deeper insights into your datasets.