Slope units

Slope tells you how steeply a line goes up or down. To calculate how steep is a line you need to know horizontal and vertical distances or run and rise. The slopes are defined by rise and run ratio. The slope is zero when the line is perfectly level. When there is vertical and horizontal change the line is sloped. Slope gradient can be measured with rise over run ratio, percentage (%), and angle between 0-90 degrees (°). Don’t confuse slope with angle between the sloped line and horizontal or level line. They use the same units, degrees and percent, but percent units are not the same at slopes and at angles.

The units used to measure slopes are rise over run ratio (rise : run), percent (%), and degrees (° or deg). Use these calculators to convert:

DEGREES (°) to PERCENT (%)
PERCENT (%) to DEGREES (°)

PERCENT (%) to RATIO
RATIO to PERCENT (%)

DEGREES (°) to RATIO
RATIO to DEGREES (°)

Calculate rise height from slope and run length
Calculate run length from slope and rise height