126

CHAPTER (7)
7.0 MENSURATION
7.1 Mensuration of Areas
The SI unit of length is the metre, therefore, since area is the result of the
product of two dimensions measured in similar units, the SI unit of area is the “square
metre”( abbreviation m2).

Other recommended units of length are the kilometer ( 1 km = 103 m) and the
milimetre ( 1mm = 10-3 m ), these conform to the special recommendations of using
prefixes representing 10 to a power which is a multiple of 3, therefore other accepted
units of area are the square kilometer [ 1 km2 = (103)2 m2 = 106 m2] and the square
millimeter [ 1mm2 =( 10-3)2 m2 = 10-6 m2].

However, the large difference of 106 in the size of these units of area justifies
the use of an intermediate unit between the square metre and the square millimeter in
engineering calculations. The square centimeter (cm2) is a very practical size and
commonly used.

Note the scale of areas:

1 cm = 10 mm  1 cm2 = 102 mm2

1 m = 102 cm  1 m2 = 104 cm2

1 m = 103 mm  1 m2 = 106 mm2

Note also

1 cm2 = 10-4 m2

1 mm2 = 10-6 m2 = 10-2 cm2

Most simple regular shaped figures will already be familiar to most students at this
stage therefore they are given here briefly as revision.

A PARALLELOGRAM is a four-sided figure whose opposite sides are paralled and

equal in length to each other. It therefore follows that opposite angles are equal, one
pair of opposite angles being obtuse, and the other pair acute and supplementary to
the obtuse angles. It may be considered as a rectangular framework leaning over to
one side as in Fig.1 where in it can be seen that the outer triangular area ( shown
dotted) at one end is equal to the inner triangular area at the other end. Hence the area
of the parallelogram is equal to that of a rectangle of the same base and same
perpendicular height. Also, if a diagonal is drawn from one corner to the opposite
corner, it will bisect the parallelogram into two equal triangles, the area of each being
half that of the parallelogram.
 127

Area of Parallelogram = base × perp.height

PARALLELOGRAM

PERPENDICULAR

BASE Fig. 1

A RHOMBUS is a special kind of parallelogram. It is a diamond shaped four-sided

figure with all sides of equal length and opposite sides parallel to each other. See Fig.
2. The diagonals of a rhombus are perpendicular to each other and their intersection
form right angles; the diagonals bisect each other and each bisects its corner angles.
The area of a rhombus is half of the product of its diagonals.

RHOMBUS

Fig.2

A TRAPEZIUM is a four-side figure, two sides only of which are parallel. Referring
to Fig. 3, if a and b are the respective lengths of the two parallel sides and h is the
perpendicular height, then,

Area of Trapezium = average length × perp. Height

= ½ ( a + b) × h

The equivalent rectangle of the trapezium is shown in dotted lines.

TRAPEZIU
M
PERPENDICULAR HEIGHT

ab
2
b

Fig.3
128

The area of any four-sided figure, such as shown in Fig.4, where in all sides are of
different length and all angles different, can be found by dividing the figure into two
triangles by a diagonal, calculating the area of each triangle and adding them together.

Fig.4

PERPENDICULAR HEIGHT

BASE

Fig.5

TRIANGLES

A diagonal drawn joining two opposite corners of a parallelogram divides the

figure into two equal triangles, therefore the area of a triangle is half that of a
parallelogram of the same base and perpendicular height. This and other rules for the
areas of triangles were given in the previous chapter, thus.

1
Area of triangle  ( base  perp.height)
2
1
 (ab sin C )
2
 s(s - a)(s - b)(s - c)

Where a, b and c are the lengths of the three sides and s is semi-parameter.

abc
Thus, s  .
2

POLYGONS

A Polygon is a figure bounded by more than four straight sides. A regular

polygon has all its sides equal in length and all its angles equal, any regular polygon is
therefore made up of as many equal triangles as there are sides and the method of
finding the area of a polygon is to first find the area of one triangle and then multiply 129
by the number of triangles which constitute the polygon.

Special names are given to some regular polygons as follows.

 A Five-sided figure is called a Pentagon

A Six-sided figure is called a Hexagon

A Seven-sided figure is called a Heptagon

An Eight-sided figure is called an Octagon

A Nine-sided figure is called a Nonagon

A Ten-sided figure is called a Decagon

r r
α

Fig.6

For any polygon, if n = number of sides, then,

Number of triangle = n

360
Apex angle of each triangle = α =
n

If r = radius of the circumscribing circle, then r is also the slant height of each
triangle. Note that all the triangles are isosceles.

1
Area of each triangle  ( ab sin C )
2
1 2
r sin 

2
1
 Area of polygon  nr 2 sin 
2

It is, however, also convenient to express the area of the more common polygons in
terms of the length of the sides of flats.

130 The HEXAGON is the most important polygon from an engineer’s point of view
because most nuts and bolt heads are hexagonal.

60°

SIDE
 60° 60°

Fig.7

As there are six sides to the hexagon, it is composed of six triangles, the apex of each
triangle is 360 ÷ 6 = 60°

The base angles are each ½ (180-60) = 60°

Therefore the triangles must beequilateral (see Fig.7)

The are of an equilateral triangle = 0.433 side2 (previously shown)

 Area of Hexagon = 6 × 0.433 side2

= 2.598 side2

The OCTAGON is another section which crops up quite often in engineering. Being
composed of eight isosceles triangles, the apex angle of each is 360 ÷ 8 = 45° (see
Fig.8)

The base angles are each ½ (180-45) = 67 ½ °

Perp.height of triangle = ½ side × tan67 ½ °

Area of triangle = ½( base × perp.height)

= ½ × base × ½ × side × tan 67 ½ °

= ½ × side × ½ × side × tan 67 ½ °

= 0.60355 side2

Area of Octagon = 8 × 0.60355 side2

= 4.8284 side2

131

45°

SIDE
 Fig. 8

THE CIRCLE

The Circumference is the outer rim of the circle, an Arc is part of the
Circumference, other common terms are illustrated in Fig.9.

Circumference = π × diameter = π d

= 2π × radius = 2 π r

Where π = 3.142 to nearest four figures.

In many cases π may be conveniently taken as the nearest vulgar fraction, which is

1 22
3 or . SECTOR
7 7 SEGMENT

CHORD

DIAMETER

RADIUS

Fig.9

The Area of a circle can be considered as being made up of a great number of small
triangles, like a polygon of an infinite number of sides,

r = height of each triangle

r  base
Area of each triangle =
2

Area of circle = sum of areas of all triangles

132 r  base
= sum of { }
2

r
is a common multiplier,
2
 r
 Area of circle = × sum of bases
2

But the sum of the bases constitute the whole circumference = 2πr

r
Area of circle = × 2πr = πr2
2

d
Also, since r =
2

 2
Area of circle = d = 0.7854 d2
4

SECTOR OF A CIRCLE

A Sector of a circle is shown in Fig.10. As in the case of the whole circle we

can consider the sector as being made up of a number of small triangles:

r
Area of Sector = × sum of bases
2

r
= × length of arc
2

Alternatively , if  is the angle at the centre, in degrees.

Area of circle of 360° = πr2

r 2
Area of sector of 1° =
360


Area of sector of ° =  r 2
360

ARC

Fig. 10
133

Further, if the angle  at the centre be measured in radians,

Area of circle ( = 2π radians) = πr2

 r 2 r 2
Area of sector of 1 radian = 
2 2

 r2
Area of sector of  radians =
2

SEGMENT OF A CIRCLE

Referring to Fig.11,

Area of Segment = area of sector – area of triangle

 r2
Area of sector (show above) =
2

Where  is the centre angle in radians.

ab sin C
Area of triangle = in this case, a = r, b= r, and C is the centre angle  in
2
degrees.

r 2 sin 
Area of triangle =
2

Area of segment = area of sector – area of triangle

 r 2 r 2 sin
= 
2 2

r2
=   sin  
2

Note carefully that in this apparently simple formula, the first  in the brackets is the
angle expressed in radians, where as the second  is in degrees so that its sine can be
read from the tables.

134
Fig.11

Example 1. Calculate the area of a segment which subtends an angle of 150degrees at the
centre of a circle 150mm diameter.

150 150  2
Solution:  in radians = or
57.3 360
 = 2.618 radians

Sin 150° = sin (180-150) = sin 30° = 0.5

r2
Area of segment =   sin  
2

75 2
=  2.618  0.5
2

75 2  2.118
=
2

= 5957 mm2 or 59.57 cm2

SURFACE OF CYLINDER

If we imagine the shell of a cylinder being un-rolled as in Fig.12 it can be seen that,

Curved surface area of a cylinder = πd × h

CIRCUMFERENCE =πd

Fig.12

135

SURFACE OF SPHERE

The curved surface area of a sphere is equal to the curved surface area of its
circumscribing cylinder, that is, a cylinder of equal diameter and height.
 The curved surface area of a segment of the sphere or any such sliced portion, is
equal to the curved surface area of the corresponding slice off the circumscribing
cylinder.

In all cases, referring to Fig.13,

Curved Surface Area = πd × h

For the whole sphere, h= d,

Curved Surface Area of Sphere = πd2

R R

EXERCISES d d

1. In a parallelogram ABCD, the opposite parallel sides AD and BC are each

100mm long, the other sides are each 60mm long, and the diagonal AC is
140mm. Calculate the angles, the short diagonal, the perpendicular height, and
the area.

2. The sides of a rhombus are each 32mm long and the length of the long diagonal
is 48mm. Calculate the angles, the length of the short diagonal, and the area.

3. In a trapezium ABCD, the two parallel sides are AB and CD, and their lengths
are 100 and 60mm respectively. Side BC is perpendicular to the parallel sides
and its length is 50mm.

(i) Find the area of the trapezium

(ii) Find the position of a dividing line EF parallel to AB to divide the

trapezium into two equal half areas.

4. The lengths of the sides of a four-sided figure ABCD, are, in metres, AB = 1,

BC = 2, CD = 1.5, DA = 3.5, and the angle BCD is 117° 17. Find the area of
136
the figure.

5. The length of the sides of a regular hexagonal plate is 80mm. The plate is cut
parallel to one of its sides and this reduces the area by 10%, calculate the
thickness of the piece cut off.

6. An octagonal plate, the sides of which are each 30mm long, has a circular hole
50mm diameter cut out of it. Find the net area of the plate in mm2.
 7. Find the length of the sides and the area of the largest equilateral triangular plate
that can be cut out of a circular plate 120mm diameter.

8. The outer and inner diameters of the collar of a single-collar thrust shaft are 755
and 415mm respectively, and the effective area of contact with the thrust pads is
0.7 of the face of the collar. Calculate (i) the effective area of contact, in square
metres, and (ii) the total force on the collar, in kilonewtons, when the thrust
pressure is 2000 kilonewtons on each square metre.

9. Finf the area, in cm2, of the smaller segment of a circle of 200mm diameter if
the length of the chord is 180mm.

10. The internal dimensions of the liner of an I.C. engine are 762mm diameter and
1270mm long. Calculate the surface area in square metres.

11. Find the diameter of a solid hemisphere whose total surface area( including the
flat circular base) is 58.9 cm2.

12. The ball of a Brinell hardness testing machine is 10mm diameter. Calculate the
depth and curved surface area of an indentation in a material under test when the
surface diameter of the indentation is 5mm.

13. It is required to make a hollow cone out of thin flat sheet steel, the base diameter
of the cone to be 150mm and the perpendicular height 125mm. Find the
dimensions of the sector to be cut out of the sheet to make this cone and sketch
the pattern.

14. A lampshade has the form of a frustum of a cone, the diameters at the base and
top are 320 and 180mm respectively and the perpendicular height is 170mm.
Calculate the curved surface area.

15. A circular anchor ring made of round bar is 640mm outside diameter and
440mm inside diameter. Calculate the surface area to be painted.

7.2 Mensuration of Volumes and Masses

Volume is the result of the product of three dimensions measured in similar units,
therefore, since the SI unit of length is the metre, then the SI unit of volume is the “cubic
metre”(m3), and the millimeter being a recommended unit of length, then the cubic
137
millimeter(mm3) is a recommended unit of volume.

However, since one metre is equal to 103 millimetres, then one cubic metre is equal to
(103)3 cubic millimeters, that is 109 mm3. Thus there is a vast difference in size between the
cubic meter and the cubic millimeter, consequently intermediate units of volume are
accepted. These are the cubic decimeter (dm 3) which is called a litre (l) and used for fluid
measure, and the cubic centimerer (cm3) which is equal in volume to a milliliter (ml). Thus:

1cm = 10mm
 1cm3 = 1ml = 103 mm3

1dm = 10cm = 102mm

1dm3 = 1litre = 103cm3 = 103 ml = 106mm3

1m = 10dm = 102cm = 103mm

1m3 = 103dm3 = 103liter = 106cm3 = 109mm3

MASS is the quantity of matter possessed by a body and is proportional to the volume and the
density of the body. It is a constant quantity, that is, the mass can only be changed by adding
more matter or taking matter away.

The abbreviation for mass is m and the SI unit is the kilogramme(kg). For very large
or small quantities, multiples or submultiples of the gramme(g) are used. Large masses are
common in marine work and these are measured in megagrammes(Mg), one megagramme is
equal to 103 kilogrammes and called a tone(t).

DENSITY is a measure of the mass per unit volume, the symbol representing density is p the
Greek letter rho. Since the SI units for mass and volume are kilogramme and cubic metre
respectively, then the SI units of density is kilogramme per cubic meter (Kg/m 3) other units
recommended for use are grammes per cubic centimeter (g/ cm3)for solid materials, grammes
per milliliter (g/cm3) for solid materials, grammes per milliliter (g/ml) for liquids, grammes
per litre (g/l) for gases. In some cases tones per cubic metre (t/m 3) and kilogrammes per litre
(kg/l) may be used.

Note that mumerically:

g/cm3 = g/ml = kg/l = t/m3

The density of pure water may be taken as 1000kg/m 3 which is equal to 1 tonne/m3, 1 kg/litre
and 1 g/ml.

The total mass of a body is therefore the product of the volume and the density. Units must of
course be consistent throughout, such as,

Mass [kg] = volume[m3] ×density[kg/m3]

Or
138
Mass[g] = volume[cm3] ×density[g/cm3] and so on.

RELATIVE DENSITY or SPECIFIC GRAVITY of a substance is the ratio of the mass of a volume
of the substance to the mass of an equal volume of pure water.

In other words, it is the ratio of the density of the substance to the density of pure water and is
therefore numerically equal to g/cm3 and its equivalents.

PRISMS
 Fig. 13

A regular prism is a bar of regular cross-section, some examples are given in Fig. 13.

In all these cases,

Volume = area of cross-section × length

Hence, to find the volume of a prism, calculate the area of the end and multiply this by length
(or height) of the prism.

SPHERE

The sphere may be considered as being made up of a great number of very small
puramids whose bases lie on the surface of the sphere and their apices all meeting at the
centre of the sphere.

Volume of each pyramid

1
= (are of base × perpendicular height)
3

Volume of sphere

= sum of volumes of all pyramids

1
= × perpendicular height × sum of areas of bases
3

1
= × radius of sphere × curved surface area of sphere
3

1 d 139
= × × π d2
3 2

 4 3
= d3 or πr
6 3

Volume of hollow sphere

= vol. of outer sphere – vol. of inner spherical space

 
= D3 - d3
6 6
 
= (D3 - d3)
6

Example 1. Solid lead cone, 40mm diameter at the base and 120mm perpendicular height
is to be melted down and cast into a hollow sphere of 10mm uniform thickness. Find the
inside and outside diameters of the sphere.

Solution: Let d be inside diameter,

Then ( d + 2) cm is outside diameter.


Volume of hollow sphere  (D 3  d 3 )
6

 [(d  2) 3  d 3 ]
6
 3
 [ d  6d 2  12d  8  d 3 ]
6

 (6d 2  12d  8)
6

1 
Volume of material from cone    4 2  12    16cm 3
3 4

(6d 2  12d  8)    16
6
6d 2  12d  8  96
3d  6d  44  0
2

Solving this quadratic:

d = 2.958 cm or 29.58 mm

D = 4.958 cm or 49.58 mm

140

7.3 SPHERICAL SEGMENT

h
C
A D

d/2 -h

d
O d-h
 Fig. 14

A segment of a sphere is shown by ABCDA in Fig. 14. Let its radius DC = r, thickness BD =
h, and diameter of sphere = d. The volume of the spherical segment can be obtained by
subtracting the volume of the cone OADCO from the volume of the spherical sector
OABCO.

Volume of sector of sphere. Consider this as being made up of a great number of very small
pyramids whose bases lie on the spherical surface of the sector and their apices all meeting at
the centre of the sphere.

1
Volume of pyramid = (area of base × perpendicular height)
3

1
Volume of sector = × perpendicular height × sum of areas of bases
3

The sum of the area of the bases is the curved surface area of the slice of the sphere and this
has been shown (Chapter 8) to be equal to the curved surface area of the corresponding slice
of the circumscribing cylinder, which is πdh.

1 d
Volume of sector = × × π dh
3 2


= d2h
6

It will be seen that the volume of the spherical sector and the volume of the whole sphere are
in the ratio of their spherical surface areas, thus

141

Volume of sector Surface area of sector


Volume of sphere Surface area of sphere
 dh  2
Volume of sector  d 3   d h as above
6 d 2 6
1
Volume of cone  area of base  perp.height
3
1 2 d
 r (  h)
3 2
 2
 r ( d  2 h)
6

-Substituting r2 in terms of d and h, by crossed chords,

 r 2  h ( d - h)

Volume of cone  h( d  h)(d  2h)
6


h( d 2  3dh  2h 2 )
6
Volume of segment  Vol. of sector - Vol. of cone
 
 d 2 h - h( d 2  3dh  2h 2 )
6 6

 h(d 2  d 2  3dh  2h 2 )
6

 h 2 (3d  2h)
6

EXERCISES

1. A brass bar 250mm long has a constant hexagonal cross section measuring 90mm
across the face from one corner to the opposite corner. Find (i) the volume of the bar,
(ii) the mass in kilogrammes if the density of brass is 8.4 g/cm3.

2. A segment 2cm thick is cut off a sphere 10cm diameter. Find the volumes of the
segment cut off, the remaining segment and the whole sphere.

3. A sphere is sliced into three pieces by two parailel cuts. The top segment is 8cm thick
and 24cm diameter at its base, the bottom segment is 5cm thick. Calculate the volume
of the zone of sphere between the segments.

4. A circular anchor ring made of round bar is 640mm outside diameter and 440mm
inside diameter. Calculate the surface area to be painted.

5. The height of a spherical segment is 4cm and the diameter of its base is 14cm. Find its
volume.

6. A hollow lead sphere has a uniform thickness of 10mm and its mass is 3kg. Taking
the specific gravity of lead as 11.4, find its outside diameter.