Activity5.

1CalculatingPropertiesofShapes

Introduction
Ifyouweregiventheresponsibilityofpaintingaroom,howwouldyouknowhow
muchpainttopurchaseforthejob?Ifyouweretoldtopurchaseenoughcarpetto
coverallthebedroomfloorsinyourhome,howwouldyoucommunicatetheamount
ofcarpetneededtothesalesperson?Ifyouhadtoplaceanorderfornewshingles
fortheroofofyourhome,howwouldyoudeterminethenumberofshinglesneeded?
Asidefromthefactthateachofthesequestionsdealswithhomeimprovement
issues,theyallcenterontheconceptofarea.

Areadescribesthemeasureofatwodimensionalsurface.Oneexampleofhow
areaisusedinengineeringisthecalculationofstressthatdevelopsinanobjectthat
issubjectedtoanexternalload.Ifyouhaveeverstretchedarubberbandtothe
pointthatitbreaks,thenyouhaveappliedanexternalloadtoanobjectthathasa
constantcrosssectionalarea.Indoingso,youcausedstresstobuildupinsidethe
rubberbanduntilitbroke.Anotherexampleofhowareaisusedinengineeringisthe
calculationofbeamdeflection.Ifyouhaveeverwalkedacrossafallentreeinan
efforttocrossacreek,thenyouhaveexperiencedtheconceptofdeflection.Ifthe
treehadasmalldiameter,thentheamountofdeflectionwouldbesignificantand
noticeable.Ifthetreehadalargetrunk,thentheamountofdeflectionwasprobably
toosmalltofeelornotice.

Equipment
Engineeringnotebook
Pencil
Calculator

Procedure
Inthisactivityyouwillbroadenyourknowledgeofshapesandyourabilitytosketch
them.Youwillalsolearnhowtocalculatethedimensionsandareaofashape.Use
points,constructionlines,andobjectlinestosketchtheshapesdescribedinthefirst
sevenwordproblems.Usethenotescontainedinyourengineeringnotebooktohelp
youperformthenecessarycalculations.Calculatoruseisencouraged,butyoumust
showallofyourwork.

2012ProjectLeadTheWay,Inc.
IntroductiontoEngineeringDesignActivity5.1CalculatingPropertiesofShapesPage1


1. Usethesketchbelowtocalculatetheareaofthesquare.Addalllinear
dimensionstothesketchthatwereusedinthecalculations.Note:eachgridunit
=1inch.

2. Theareaofthesquarerepresentedaboveisrevisedtobe90.25in.2.Notethat
theoriginalgridspacingnolongerapplies.
a. Whatisthesidelengthofthesquare?Justifyyouranswer.
9.5, square root of 90.25.
b. Usingthislength,whatwouldbethecorrespondinggridspacingforthe
sketchabove?Justifyyouranswer.

1.1875 in

a. Whatsizecirclewouldyoucutoutofthesquareinordertohavea
remainingareaof66.5in2?Justifyyouranswer.

5.5 inches in diameter

b. Applyallnecessaryannotationsanddimensionstosizetheshapesand
locatethecircleinthecenterofthesquare.

2012ProjectLeadTheWay,Inc.
IntroductiontoEngineeringDesignActivity5.1CalculatingPropertiesofShapesPage2

3. Completethesketchoftherectangle.Itmusthaveanareaof2.25in.2Provethe
enclosedareabydimensioningthesketchandshowingtheareacalculation.
Showonlythosedimensionsneededfortheareacalculation.Note:eachgridunit
=0.25inch.

2.25 inches
squared

4. Usethesketchbelowtocalculatetheareaoftherhomboid.Addlinear
dimensionstothesketchthatwereusedintheareacalculation.Note:eachgrid
unit=1inch.

24 inches squared

2012ProjectLeadTheWay,Inc.
IntroductiontoEngineeringDesignActivity5.1CalculatingPropertiesofShapesPage3

5. Completethesketchoftheobtusetriangle.Itmusthaveanareaof1.75in.2.
Provethegeometrybydimensioningthesketchandshowingthearea
calculation.Showonlythosedimensionsneededfortheareacalculation.Note:
eachgridunit=.25inch.

6. Youaregivenasheetofcardboardthatis8.5in.x11in.Whatisthemaximum
numberoffullcircleswithanareaof7.1in.2eachthatcanbecutfromthesheet?

13 full circles

2012ProjectLeadTheWay,Inc.
IntroductiontoEngineeringDesignActivity5.1CalculatingPropertiesofShapesPage4

2012ProjectLeadTheWay,Inc.
IntroductiontoEngineeringDesignActivity5.1CalculatingPropertiesofShapesPage5


7. Anellipsehasanareaof4.71in.2andaminoraxisthatis2in.long.Solveforthe
majoraxis,andthensketchtheellipseusingthatdimension.Showonlythose
dimensionsneededfortheareacalculation.Note:eachgridunit=.25inch.

8. Whatsidelengthwouldyouspecifyifyouwererequiredtocreatearegular
hexagonalplatethatwascomprisedof33.0cm2ofsheetmetal?Sketchthe
hexagon,dimensionthesidelengthonthesketchto0.1cm,andindicateyour
gridspacing.Justifyyourdimension.

2012ProjectLeadTheWay,Inc.
IntroductiontoEngineeringDesignActivity5.1CalculatingPropertiesofShapesPage6

2012ProjectLeadTheWay,Inc.
IntroductiontoEngineeringDesignActivity5.1CalculatingPropertiesofShapesPage7

ExtendYourLearning
9. Thesketchshownbelowisforacommercialsign.Itwasdrawnto1/10ofitstrue
size.Whatistheareaoftheactualsign?Proveyouranswerbyshowingall
calculations.Notethatthesignwasnotdrawntoscalebutwasdrawnonagrid
inwhichthegridspacingunitis1inch.
Rectangle

Circle

Small
triangles

Big
triangle

MoreChallenging
10. Astandardstopsignmeasures30inchesfromflattoflat.Whatisthesidelength,
x,ofthestopsign(tothenearest0.01in.)?Justifyyouranswer.

12.42

2012ProjectLeadTheWay,Inc.
IntroductiontoEngineeringDesignActivity5.1CalculatingPropertiesofShapesPage8

Conclusion
1. Whatisthedifferencebetweenacircleandanellipse?

One is equidistant from

the center while the
other isn't
2. Whatisthedifferencebetweenaninscribedandacircumscribedshape?

One makes the angles touching the circle while the other the
circle is tangent to the triangle

3. Whyisitimpossibleforatriangletocontaina180angle?

No because all the angles of a triangle which is 3 must equal

180

4. Howisarhombussimilartoasquare?

Each opposite side is parallel to each other

5. Whatisthedifferencebetweenaright,acute,andobtusetriangle?

Right is 90 degrees

Acute is less than 90 degrees

Obtuse is anything larger than 90 degrees

2012ProjectLeadTheWay,Inc.
IntroductiontoEngineeringDesignActivity5.1CalculatingPropertiesofShapesPage9