Unit 4 Measurement 1

Section 1 Presentation
1. Look and read:
A room has three spatial dimensions: length, height and width. These
dimensions are measured in millimeters or metres. The volume of a room
equals length times height times width. Volume is measured in cubic metres
(m3). The area of a surface in the room is measured in square metres (m2).

Internal measurements of a room

Make questions and answers about the volume, longitudinal-sectional area,
cross-sectional area and surface areas of the room:
Example:

What is the internal area of the north-facing wall?

The internal area of the north-facing wall is 12 square
metres.

Now make statements like this:

The north-facing wall has an internal area of 12 square metres.
2. Estimate the internal measurements of your classroom and make a table
like this:
Name
classroom
window
etc.

Dimension
width
area

Quantity
4
2

Unit
metre
square metres

Now from your table make sentences like the following:

The classroom has a width of approximately 4 metres.
The classroom is approximately 4 metres wide.
The window has an area of approximately 2 square metres.
The window is approximately 2 square metres in area.
Unit4: Measurement 1

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3. Look and read :

var ies between

and
In a group of three people, their height
X
Z mm.
ranges from
to
The maximum height is Z mm and the minimum is X mm. The average height
X +Y + Z
in this group is therefore
= W mm.
3

Now make a table of the following measurements of each person in your

group and then write three similar paragraphs:

Anthropometric data
Height in Eye
mm
height in
mm

Forward
reach in
mm

Shoulder
width in
mm

Length
of lower
leg in
mm

Length
of upper
leg in
mm

Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Etc.

4. Look and read:

When designing a building for a group of people, an architect considers the
maximum, minimum and average dimensions of their bodies. For each design
situation shown below say which dimension an architect should base his
calculations on:
Design situation
Example:
floor-to-ceiling
height

Unit4: Measurement 1

Dimension
maximum height in the
group (tallest person)

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a)

Width of doorway

b)

Height of seat
above floor

c)

Height of notices

d)

Length of seat
surface from
backrest to front
edge

e)

Width of sink unit

5. Use the measurements you collected in exercise 3 to help you complete

this paragraph :
When deciding on the floor-to-ceiling height of a building, an architect should
base his calculations on the tallest person in a group of people. The tallest
person in our group is _________ mm. Therefore the floor-to-ceiling height of
our building should be greater than _________ mm.
Now write similar paragraphs about two other design situations.

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6. Explain the following facts :

a) The tables used in infant schools are lower than the ones used in
universities.
b) More people can be carried on a train during rush hour in summer than in
winter.
c) An African will be uncomfortable sitting in a chair designed for a
Japanese.
d) The doorway height in Britain is usually 2100 mm although some Britons
are taller than 2100 mm.
7. Design a table and chair using data from exercise 3.

Section 2 Development
8. Look and read :
Common measurements in architecture

Unit
symbol
lm
lx
o
C
kg
J
s

Units of measurement
SI unit
Unit
SI unit
symbol
lumen
kg/m3
kilogramme per cubic metre
2
lux (1 lumen/m )
N/mm2
newton per square millimeter
degree Celcius
dB
decibel
kilogramme
A
ampere
joule
second

Say which unit is used to measure these dimensions:

a) mass

Unit4: Measurement 1

b) density (mass per

cubic metre)

c). Noise level

d). Stress
(force per
square
millimeter)

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e). illumination
(light falling
on surface)

f). luminous flux

(flow of light
measured
in lumen)

g).electric hg). temperature i). heat

current

9. Look at this diagram and complete the sentences below :

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)

The temperature of the room is measured in _________

The _________ in the concrete block is 5 N/mm2.
The noise level of the television is measured in _________
The illumination in the room is measured in _________
The _________ of the concrete foundation is 2400 kg/m3
The electric current to the television is measured in _________
The _________ from the light bulb is 50 lux.
The heat flow rate of the radiator is measured in _________

10. Now make a list of some of the things in your classroom that can be
measured. Say what they are and what units they are measured in.
11. Read this :
The performance requirements of a building are expressed in this way:
The area of the room should be 40 m2.
For maximum requirements:
The area of the room should not be greater than 50 m2
For minimum requirements:
The area of the room should not be less than 30 m2.

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Now read these problems and complete the solutions:

a) Problem
A family of 5 persons wants to build a house. The floor area allowed
for each person is 10 square metres. What is the floor area required?
Solution
There are _________ people. The floor area allowed per person is
__________________. Therefore

b) Problem
An architect wants to build a concrete column to take a compressive
force of 2000 newtons. The maximum compressive stress allowed in
the concrete is 5 N/mm2. What is the minimum corss-sectional area of
the column required?
Solution
The load on the column is __________________.
The ________ ________ ________ allowed in the concrete is
_________. Therefore ..

c) Problem
An architect wants to build a concrete wall with a volume of 10 cubic
metres. The maximum weight of the wall allowed is 22000
kilogrammes. What is the maximum density of concrete required?
Solution
The volume.

Section 3 Reading
12. Read this passage :
Concrete is made from cement, coarse aggregate (stones), fine aggregate (sand
or crushed stone) and water. Coarse aggregate ranging from 5 mm to 40 mm
may be used for normal work. The maximum size of the aggregate should not
be greater than one quarter of the minimum thickness of the finished concrete.
The normal maximum sizes are 20 mm and 40 mm (20 mm being more
common). The maximum size of aggregate which should be used in small
concrete sections, or where reinforcement is close together, is 10 mm.

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In concrete with widely spaced reinforcement, such as solid slabs, the size of
the coarse aggregate should not be greater than the minimum cover to the
reinforcement otherwise spalling will occur, i.e. the breaking off of pieces of
concrete below the reinforcement. For heavily reinforced sections, e.g. the ribs
of main beams, the maximum size of the coarse aggregate should be either:
(i)

5 mm less than the minimum horizontal distance between the

reinforcing rods, or,
(ii) 5 mm less than the minimum cover to the reinforcement, whichever
is the smaller.
Now say whether these statements are true or false. Correct the false
statements.
a) Concrete is made from three different materials.
b) Coarse aggregate ranges in size from 20 mm to 40 mm.
c) When the minimum thickness of the finished concrete is 100 mm, the
maximum size of aggregate should not be greater than 25 mm.
d) When the reinforcing rods are close together, the maximum size of
aggregate used should be 10 mm.
e) Cover is the thickness of concrete between the reinforcing rods.
f) The reinforcing rods are placed near the bottom of the rib of a concrete
beam.
g) Spalling can occur in a solid concrete slab when the cover to the
reinforcement is greater than the maximum size of the coarse
aggregate.
h) When the minimum horizontal distance between reinforcing rods is 15
mm, the maximum size of aggregate should be less than 12 mm.
13. Look at these drawings. What is the maximum size of aggregate that
should be used? Explain why.

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