PERFORM CALCULATION

It is important to be able to measure and calculate surface areas. It might be necessary to calculate, for
example, the surface area of the cross-section of a canal or the surface area of a farm.

DETERMINING THE SURFACE AREA OF A FARM

It may be necessary to determine the surface area of a farmer's field. For example, when
calculating how much irrigation water should be given to a certain field, the size of the field must
be known.
When the shape of the field is regular and has, for example, a rectangular shape, it
should not be too difficult to calculate the surface area once the length of the field (that is, the
base of its regular shape, and the width of the field have been measured.
Field of regular shape

EXAMPLE
Given Answer
Length of the field =50 m
Width of the field = 30 m
Formula: A = length x width (formula 2)
= 50 m x 30 m = 1500 m2
QUESTION
What is the area of the same field, in hectares?
ANSWER
A hectare is equal to 10 000 m. Thus, the formula to calculate a surface area in hectares is:
..... (8)
In this case: area of the field in
More often, however, the field shape is not regular, as shown in Figure below.
Field of