AREA BY OFFSETS FROM A STRAIGHT LINE

OFFSETS are short distances measured perpendicular to a reference line or

baseline. They are usually taken at regular intervals if the curved
boundary does not vary significantly.
Common Two Rules used in determining areas of Irregular or Curved
Boundaries
1. TRAPEZOIDAL RULE
The assumption made in using the trapezoidal rule is that the ends of
the offsets in the boundary line are assumed to be connected by
straight line, thereby forming a series of trapezoids.

1 2 3 4 5 6 n-1

For Equal Interval :d 1=d 2=d3 ==d n1=d

A 1= ( h +2 h ) d
1 2

A 2= ( h +h2 ) d
2 3

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 A 3= ( h +h2 ) d
3 4

.
.
.
A n1= (h n1
2
+ hn
d )
A= A 1+ A 2+ A 3 ++ A n1

A= ( h +h2 ) d +( h +2 h ) d+( h +h2 ) d+ +( h

1 2 2 3 3 4 n1
2
+ hn
)
d

d
2[ 1 2
A= ( h +h ) + ( h2+ h3 ) + ( h 3+ h4 ) + + ( hn 1 +h n ) ]

d
A= ( h1+ 2 h2+ 2h 3+2 h 4 ++2 hn1 +hn )
2

d
2 1 n
A= ( h +h +2 h )

where :

dcommoninterval

h= h2+ h3 +h 4 ++h n1

h of intermediate offsets

For Unequal Interval:

A= ( h +h2 ) d +( h +h2 )d +( h +2 h )d ++( h

1 2
1
2 3
2
3 4
3
n1
2
+hn
)
d n1

Tarlac State University CE 313: Surveying 1 Prepared by:

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Computations
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2. SIMPSONS ONE-THIRD RULE
Simpsons one-third rule is based on the assumption that the curved
boundary consists of a series of parabolic arcs, where each arc is
continuous over three adjacent offsets that are equally spaced. The
rule is only applicable when there is an odd number offsets and equally
spaced offsets.

n-2 n-1
1 2 3 4 55

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 2
A 1,2= A abfg + Abcef
3

A 1,2= (2 d ) ( h +h2 )+ 23 ( 2d ) ( h h +h2 )

1 3
2
1 3

4 d 2 h2h1h3
A 1,2= ( d ) ( h 1+ h3 ) +
3( 2 )
d
A 1,2= ( 3 h1+ 3 h3+ 4 h 22 h12 h3 )
3

d
A 1,2= ( h1+ 4 h2+h3 )
3

Similarly for the next two intervals

d
A 3,4 = ( h3 + 4 h 4 +h5 )
3

Also for the last pair of strip

Tarlac State University CE 313: Surveying 1 Prepared by:

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 d
A n1,n = ( hn2 +4 hn1+ hn )
3

For several pairs of stripscombined

d
3[ 1 n
A= ( h +h ) + 2 ( h3+ h5 +h7 ++ hn2 ) +4 ( h2 +h 4 +h6 + +hn1 ) ]

d
3[ 1 n
A= ( h +h ) + 2 ( hODD ) +4 ( h EVEN ) ]

where :

h1first end offset

hnlast end offset (oddnumbered offset)

( hODD ) of oddnumbered offsets

( hEVEN ) of evennumbered offsets

Tarlac State University CE 313: Surveying 1 Prepared by:

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