Basicaly, you are working with two sides of a right triangle, the opposite and the hypotenuse, and the adjacent angle. In the case of a unit triangle with a hypotenuse of 1, the opposite side = sine(adjacent angle) On a control surface, the cord (width) is the hypotenuse, the inches of throw is the opposite side, and the degrees of throw is the adjacent angle. Unless the width is exactly 1, you have to convert your inch measurements to that of a unit triangle by dividing the opposite side (throw) by the hypotenuse (width) before calculating degrees. Likewise, when finding the inches of throw, you have to multiply the sine of the angle by the hypotenuse (width) to find the opposite side (throw)
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You can convert back and forth using a couple of measurements and the MS Windows calculator in scientific, decimal, degree mode.

Degree of throw = inv(sin(inches of throw / cord of control surface)). For example, if you have a 3" wide control surface and 5/8" throw, the degrees would be inv(sin((5/8) / 3) = inv(sin(.625/3) = inv(sin(.2083333) = 12.025 degrees.

Inches of throw = sin(degrees) * cord of control surface. For example if you have a 2" wide control surface and 20 degrees of throw, the inches would be sin(20) * 2" = .342 * 2" = .684" or approx 11/16"


Scott