English: Typical English
sector made by the
Dollond family firm of London, probably circa early 19th century, constructed of ivory with a brass hinge. This side shows three double scales, repeated on each of the sector's two legs. These scales are the line of sines (labeled S, marked in degrees from 10 to 90), for finding the
sine of a given angle; and two lines of tangents, both labeled T, for finding the
tangent of a given angle. The line of tangents toward the bottom edge of each leg is marked in degrees from 10 to 45. Between this line and the line of sines on each leg is another line of tangents marked in degrees from 45 to 75, but set to use a smaller circle radius than the other two lines, so that it fits in the same space. All these double scales have their zero point at the sector's hinge, and all are arranged so that they form same-sized angles when the sector is opened a given amount, to make it easier to perform calculations that need more than one scale. The three split scales that run along the outer edges of the two legs are
logarithmic scales like those on a
Gunter's scale. The one labeled N (the "line of numbers") is marked from 1 to 9 and again from 1 to 10, spanning two orders of magnitude (for example, 1 to 100, or 0.01 to 1). The one labeled S, marked (in degrees) from 1 to 70, is a line of logarithmic sines and actually runs up to 90 degrees; the one labeled T, marked (again in degrees) from 2 to 45, is a line of logarithmic tangents. These S and T scales are deliberately aligned to correspond with the N scale when it represents the values 0.01 to 1. The angles under 10 degrees toward the "left side" of the logarithmic S and T scales (the top edge here) are subdivided into intervals of one sixth of a degree, or 10
minutes of arc.