Suppose we have a segment of length $a$:
Then we rotate this segment for some length $b$:
And we connect end points of starting segment and newly created segment to form segment of length $c$:

My question is this: knowing $a$ and $b$, how can one deduce $c$?

Take a look at the Law of Cosines:
$$c^2 = a^2 + b^2 - 2ab \cos(x)$$
Where $x$ is the angle between sides $a$ and $b$. Applying this here, where both sides are of length $a$:
$$c^2 = a^2 + a^2 - 2a^2 \cos\left(\dfrac{b}{a}\right)$$
Notice that the cosine of $\frac{b}{a}$ is taken, because $b$ is the arc length, not the angle. Remember that $s = r \cdot \theta$ where $s$ is the arc length, $r$ is the radius, and $\theta$ is the angle in radians.