Angle condition
In mathematics, the angle condition is a constraint that is satisfied by the locus of points in the s-plane on which closed-loop poles of a system reside. In combination with the magnitude condition, these two mathematical expressions fully determine the root locus.
Let the characteristic equation of a system be
, where
. Rewriting the equation in polar form is useful.

where
are the only solutions to this equation. Rewriting
in factored form,
,
and representing each factor
and
by their vector equivalents,
and
, respectively,
may be rewritten.

Simplifying the characteristic equation,
,
from which we derive the angle condition:

where
,
are the angles of poles 1 to n, and
are the angles of zeros 1 to m.
The magnitude condition is derived similarly.