DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY – DASMARINAS

Dasmariñas, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE, AND TECHNOLOGY

CIVIL ENGINEERING PROGRAM

Name : CJ Yvonne D. Aberilla Date Started : Feb. 27, 2020

Course-Year &Section : ARC21 Date Completed: March 5, 2020

No. of Hours Required : __________ Date Due : March 5, 2020

Rating : __________

Experiment No. 4
DETERMINING AREA OF A RECTILINEAR FIELD BY TAPE

OBJECTIVE
• To learn how to measure horizontal angles with tape.
• To determine the area of a rectilinear field with tape.

INTRODUCTION

For the fourth experiment, one should determine the area of a rectilinear field with the usage of
tape measure, marking pins, and range pole. We placed the range pole to five (5) different points away
from the center, where we planted another range pole. After this procedure, we measured four (4) meters
for each point then put the marking pins as a guideline. The tape man measured and record the distances
of each points marked earlier using the range pole. Then we measured the second distance from each
point where as we planted a marking pin every four (4) meters.

INSTRUMENTS / MATERIALS NEEDED

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 • Steel Tape
• Chaining Pins
• Range Poles
• Hubs or Pegs

PROCEDURE
1. Establish the corners of the assigned field and also establish within the field a centrally-located point.
2. Subdivide the field into a convenient series of connected triangles (refer to accompanying figure). Use
pegs, hubs, or pins to mark the vertices of each triangle. Call these points A, B, C, and etc.

3. From the centrally-located point, measure distances to each point defining the corners of vertices of
each triangle. Call these distances d1, d2, and etc.

4. Using the chord method of measuring angles by tape, determine all angles about the central point, i.e.,
ϴ1, ϴ2, And etc.
5. Refer to the accompanying sample tabulation for the recording of observed field data.
COMPUTATIONS
1. Determining Values of Included Angles.

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 With the use of a tape the chord method of measuring angles may be applied to determine the value
of an angle. The following formula is used

d
Sin ϴ/2 = 2
L

Where:
ϴ = angle whose value is desired
d = measured chord distance
L = any convenient length of tape swung through an arc

INCLUDED LENGTH OF COMPUTED ADJUSTED

CHORD DIST CORR
ANGLE SIDE ANGLE ANGLE
ϴ1 3.33m 4m 40.1961° 2.6084° 46.5677°
ϴ2 4.95m 4m 76.4498° 2.6084° 73.8414°
ϴ3 6.86m 4m 118.0741° 2.6084° 115.4657°
ϴ4 4.80 4m 73.7386° 2.6084° 71.1314°
ϴ5 3.73m 4m 55.8523° 2.6084° 52.9739°

2. Determining Area of Each Triangle.

In each triangle, since the length of two sides and the included angle can be determined, the area of
the triangle may be calculated by the following formula

A = (1/2) (a) (b) Sin C

Where:
A = area of the triangle
a,b = the two measured sides of the triangle (or d1, d2, etc.)
C = included angle (or ϴ1, ϴ2, ϴ3, etc.)

SIDES INCLUDED
TRIANGLE AREA
ANGLE
1ST 2ND
ABF 4.3 4.802 99.2184 70.19

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 BCF 4.802 4.759 58.2014 9.71
CDF 4.759 3.33 82.2184 7.85
DEF 3.33 5.862 59.5184 8.41
AEF 5.862 4.3 60.8434 11.01

3. Calculating the Total Area

The total area of the field is the sum of the calculated areas of the series of connected triangles
into which the field is subdivided, or

At = A1 + A2 + A3 + A4 + A5

Where :
At = total area of the field, and A1, A2 , and etc. are areas of individual triangles.

REMARKS, HINTS & PRECAUTIONS

1. Determining areas of rectilinear fields by tape is a slow process and is not advisable when large areas
are involved.
2. This method of field survey was widely used before instruments for measuring angles were built.
3. The accuracy of the values obtained by this procedure is dependent on the size of the angle, on the
care with which the points are set on line, and on the accuracy of the measured lengths.
4. Experience will show that with reasonable care the value of an angle determined by tape measurements
would agree with the value obtained with a transit within one to three minutes.

All distances from the centrally-located point of the field to the different corners should be measured
twice and the mean recorded as its actual length.

CONCLUSION

On this field work, we determined the area of a rectilinear field using only the specified materials
such as tape measure, range poles and marking pins. The common sources errors in this field work is
human error, inaccuracy in reading measurements such as measuring the distances without ensuring that
the tape measure is totally perpendicular or laid flat in the ground. In this fieldwork, patience is a must and
team work should be considered since this experiment requires a lot of measuring and computation.