7.4 An experienced' engineer is designing a bridge to cross a river. He needs to know the distance between two fixed points on opposite banks of the river. He assigns a young engineer the task of measuring the distance between the two points. The young engineer purchases a very long tape measure and nails the end to one fixed point. He then gets in a boat and rows to the other bank while taking the tape measure with him. When he finds the other fixed point on this bank, he stretches the tape measure as tightly as he can and measures a distance of 163 meters. When the expe- rienced engineer hears how the measurement was made, he laughs and says that the measurement is completely inaccurate because the tape measure sags in the middle because of gravity. No matter how tightly it is stretched, the sag will still introduce too much error. The experienced engineer recommends using a laser range finder, which bounces a laser pulse off a mirror placed on the opposite bank and measures the time it takes to return. Because gravity has a negligible effect on light, this method can measure the straight-line distance between the two points. The laser range finder reports the distance as 138 meters. What is the fractional error and percentage error of the original measurement? 75. o

Structural Analysis
6th Edition
ISBN:9781337630931
Author:KASSIMALI, Aslam.
Publisher:KASSIMALI, Aslam.
Chapter2: Loads On Structures
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1P
icon
Related questions
Question

Hello, I need help with the answer of 7.4 from the picture, please.

7.4 An experienced' engineer is designing a bridge to cross a
river. He needs to know the distance between two fixed points on
opposite banks of the river. He assigns a young engineer the task
of measuring the distance between the two points. The young
engineer purchases a very long tape measure and nails the end to
one fixed point. He then gets in a boat and rows to the other bank
while taking the tape measure with him. When he finds the other
fixed point on this bank, he stretches the tape measure as tightly
as he can and measures a distance of 163 meters. When the expe-
rienced engineer hears how the measurement was made, he
laughs and says that the measurement is completely inaccurate
because the tape measure sags in the middle because of gravity.
No matter how tightly it is stretched, the sag will still introduce
too much error. The experienced engineer recommends using a
laser range finder, which bounces a laser pulse off a mirror
placed on the opposite bank and measures the time it takes to
return. Because gravity has a negligible effect on light, this
method can measure the straight-line distance between the two
points. The laser range finder reports the distance as 138 meters.
What is the fractional error and percentage error of the original
measurement?
75. o
Transcribed Image Text:7.4 An experienced' engineer is designing a bridge to cross a river. He needs to know the distance between two fixed points on opposite banks of the river. He assigns a young engineer the task of measuring the distance between the two points. The young engineer purchases a very long tape measure and nails the end to one fixed point. He then gets in a boat and rows to the other bank while taking the tape measure with him. When he finds the other fixed point on this bank, he stretches the tape measure as tightly as he can and measures a distance of 163 meters. When the expe- rienced engineer hears how the measurement was made, he laughs and says that the measurement is completely inaccurate because the tape measure sags in the middle because of gravity. No matter how tightly it is stretched, the sag will still introduce too much error. The experienced engineer recommends using a laser range finder, which bounces a laser pulse off a mirror placed on the opposite bank and measures the time it takes to return. Because gravity has a negligible effect on light, this method can measure the straight-line distance between the two points. The laser range finder reports the distance as 138 meters. What is the fractional error and percentage error of the original measurement? 75. o
Expert Solution
trending now

Trending now

This is a popular solution!

steps

Step by step

Solved in 4 steps with 4 images

Blurred answer
Knowledge Booster
Millwork and cabinet technology
Learn more about
Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, civil-engineering and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.
Similar questions
Recommended textbooks for you
Structural Analysis
Structural Analysis
Civil Engineering
ISBN:
9781337630931
Author:
KASSIMALI, Aslam.
Publisher:
Cengage,
Structural Analysis (10th Edition)
Structural Analysis (10th Edition)
Civil Engineering
ISBN:
9780134610672
Author:
Russell C. Hibbeler
Publisher:
PEARSON
Principles of Foundation Engineering (MindTap Cou…
Principles of Foundation Engineering (MindTap Cou…
Civil Engineering
ISBN:
9781337705028
Author:
Braja M. Das, Nagaratnam Sivakugan
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
Fundamentals of Structural Analysis
Fundamentals of Structural Analysis
Civil Engineering
ISBN:
9780073398006
Author:
Kenneth M. Leet Emeritus, Chia-Ming Uang, Joel Lanning
Publisher:
McGraw-Hill Education
Sustainable Energy
Sustainable Energy
Civil Engineering
ISBN:
9781337551663
Author:
DUNLAP, Richard A.
Publisher:
Cengage,
Traffic and Highway Engineering
Traffic and Highway Engineering
Civil Engineering
ISBN:
9781305156241
Author:
Garber, Nicholas J.
Publisher:
Cengage Learning