Contents

1.0 Measurements for Regular Areas..........................................................................2

1.1 Lines and Angles............................................................................................... 2
1.2 Triangles............................................................................................................ 3
1.2.1 Perimeter of a Triangle................................................................................3
1.2.2 Pythagoreans Theorem..............................................................................3
1.2.3 Area of a Triangle........................................................................................ 3
1.3 Quadrilaterals.................................................................................................... 4
1.3.1 Area and Perimeter of Quadrilaterals..........................................................4
1.4 Circles............................................................................................................... 4
1.4.1 Perimeter and Area of a Circle.....................................................................4
2.0 Measurements for Irregular Areas........................................................................4
2.1 The Trapezoidal Rule......................................................................................... 5
2.2 The Simpsons Rule........................................................................................... 5
2.3 Areas by Integration.......................................................................................... 5
3.0 Measurements for Calculating Volume.................................................................5
3.1 Volumes by Integration..................................................................................... 6
3.1.1 Volume of a Curve....................................................................................... 6
3.1.2 Volume of a Shell........................................................................................ 7
4.0 Trigonometry to Solve for Cantilevers...............................................................7
5.0 Centroids........................................................................................................... 9
5.0 Dimensionless Groups....................................................................................... 9
5.1 Reynolds Number.......................................................................................... 9
6.0 Units and Unit Conversions...............................................................................9

1.0 Measurements for Regular Areas

1.1 Lines and Angles
With respect to geometry points, lines and planes are the basis for all
calculations. It is important to note that these are relative terms; they are accepted

without being defined, and are the foundation for more relevant geometric
calculations.
To understand the concept of an angle one must first be familiar with the
above noted components of a line. A point is nothing more than a location in space.
A line consists of a collection of points along a strait path which is continuous is
either direction. It is important to note that a line has not endpoints. A line segment
is a portion of a line that has two end points. A ray is a line with one end which is
continuous in one direction. The fixed end point of a ray is the vertex of an angle.
The rotation about this point is what forms an angle. A full rotation about a vertex is
360. Other important angles are:
o
o
o
o

Right angle: 90
Strait angle: 180
Acute angle: > 90
Obtuse angle: < 90

If two lines intersect at right angles, or at 90 to one another, it can be said

that these line are perpendicular. Oppositely, if two lines travel alone the same
plane but never intersect can be said to be parallel. Identifying these line types is
important to concepts discussed later in this report.
When an angle is created at a point on a line it creates a pair of angles; one
being obtuse and the other being acute. If the sum of these two angles is 180 the
pair of angles is said to be supplementary. Similar to this concept, if two angles pair
together and have a sum 90 the paired angles are said to be complementary.
In addition to supplementary and complementary angles there are a group of
special paired angles; these angles are known as adjacent and vertical angles. Two
angles which share the same vertex and have one side in common are said to be
adjacent. Two angles which share a vertex and are opposite to one another are said
to be vertical angles; it is important to note that vertical angles are equal to one
another.
The ability to identify these angles and angle pairings is fundamental to
solving problems associated with trigonometry. The final concept discussed in this
section will be the notion of a transversal. A transversal is a line which intersects
two or more other lines, parallel or not, to form a group of angles. When a
transversal crosses two or more parallel lines corresponding interior angles and
corresponding exterior angles are created. These corresponding opposite angles are
then equal to one another much the same way vertical angles are equal to one
another.

1.2 Triangles
The triangle is quite possible the
most important and most heavily
studied shape in geometry. A triangle is
a closed shape, with three sides, which
for three angles that have the sum of
180.There are three types of triangles:
scalene, isosceles, and equilateral. A
scalene triangle has no two sides of
Figure 1 Source:mathworld.wolfram.com
equal length. An isosceles triangle has
two sides of equal length and the two angles created at the base of the triangle are
equal to one another. An equilateral triangle has all three sides of equal length and
all of its interior angles are equal to 60. If any two angles of a triangle are know the
third can be found by subtracting the sum of the two known angles from 180.
There is however a fourth type of triangle, the right triangle, and it is the
most useful in geometry. A right triangle has one angle of 90. The side of the
triangle opposite to the 90 angle is called the hypotenuse, and the other two sides
are referred to as legs.
1.2.1 Perimeter of a Triangle
The perimeter of any shape is the sum of the lengths of all of its sides. If the
three sides of a triangle can be considered as side A, side B, and side C then the
formula for the perimeter of any triangle can be expressed as:

P= A+ B+C .

1.2.2 Pythagoreans Theorem

As stated earlier in this report the most important and fundament triangle in
geometry is the right triangle. One of the most powerful tools we have when it
comes to calculations associated with the right triangle is Pythagoreans Theorem.
The theorem states that in right triangles, the square of the length of the
hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides. In
laymans terms this means if any two sides of a right triangle are known then the
length of the third unknown side can be derived. The formula is as follows:

A 2 + B2=C 2 , where C is the hypotenuse.

1.2.3 Area of a Triangle
Area can be defined as giving measure to the surface of a figure. The
formula for calculating the area of quadrilaterals, closed shapes with four sides,
such as squares and rectangles is the length of its base multiplied by its height or is
often thought of as its length times its width and is expressed as:

A=BH

or

A=LW . A triangle can be thought of as half of one of these quadrilaterals so

the formula for calculating the area of a triangle is expressed as:

1
A= BH .
2

Any

shape of triangle with the same base and height will therefore have the same area.
Another principle equation for calculating the area of a triangle is the Heros
formula. The Heros formula can only be applied when the length of all three sides
of the triangle is known and the triangle contains no right angles. The Heros
formula is expressed as: A= s( sa)(sb)(sc ) , where a, b, and c are the sides
of the triangle and

1
s= (a+b+ c) .
2

1.3 Quadrilaterals
Briefly noted above, quadrilaterals are closed shapes with four sides that
form four interior angles. There are three types of quadrilaterals: the parallelogram,
the rectangle, and the trapezoid. A parallelogram is a shape where opposite sides
are equal in length, parallel to one another, and do not form any right angles. A
rectangle is simply a parallelogram where intersecting sides meet at right angles, or
are perpendicular to one another. A rectangle whose sides are all of equal length is
known as a square. A trapezoid is a quadrilateral that only has two sides which are
parallel to one another.
1.3.1 Area and Perimeter of Quadrilaterals
For any shape perimeter calculations are always the same; the sum of the
length of all its side. This calculation has been previously discussed for triangle and
will not be explored in this section.
There is a set of four equations for finding the area of any quadrilateral:

A=s 2 for squares, where s is the length of any side

A=lw

for rectangles, where l is the length and w is the width

A=bh

for parallelograms, where b is the base and h is the height

1
A= h (b1 +b 2)
2

for trapezoids, where

b1

and

b2

are the bases (top and

bottom) and h is height

1.4 Circles
The final shaped discussed in this section of the report will be circles. Before
going into the calculations associated with circles there are a few important things
to note about the shape. Firstly, all points of a circle are equal distance from its
center. The distance from the circles center to a point on the circle is referred to as

the radius. The distance greatest distance from point to point, that crosses the circle
center point, is known as the diameter. The diameter can be thought of as twice the
radius,

d=2 r .

1.4.1 Perimeter and Area of a Circle

There are many complexities and calculations associated with circles; this
report will refrain from those complexities and focus only on perimeter and area
calculations. The perimeter of a circle is known as the circumference. If the radius of
a circle is known then the circumference can be
calculated using the formula

c=2 r

or

c=d

where r is the radius and d is the diameter. The

area of a circle is can be calculated using the same
component using the formula

A= r

or

d2
A=
2 , again where r is the radius and d is the
diameter.

2.0 Measurements for Irregular Areas

Thus far in this report all shapes
discusses have been associated with
precise formulas for calculating the shapes
exact area. In real world applications of
Figure 2 Source: Washington p. 68
geometry the boundaries of areas tend not to be regular but irregular, and for this
we have two methods for approximating area; the trapezoidal rule and the Simpson
rule. This report will also discuss calculating areas using integration.

2.1 The Trapezoidal Rule

To utilize the trapezoidal rule the irregular area must first be divided into
trapezoids, each of which will have equal height. This can be achieved by drawing
parallel lines at n distance apart between the bounds of shapes area. The sum of all
the areas of these trapezoids will give you an approximation of the shapes total
area.
If we consider the length of each parallel line drawn to be

y 1 , y 2 , y3 y 4

respectively and we consider the distance between the parallel lines to be h then
the equation derived for the shapes area is:

h
h
h
h
h
A ( y 0+ y 1) + ( y 1 + y 2 ) + ( y 2+ y 3 )+ ( y n2 + y n1 ) + ( y n1+ y n)
2
2
2
2
2

which simplifies to:

h
A ( y 0 +2 y 1+2 y 2 +2 y n1+ y n) .
2

2.2 The Simpsons Rule

Similarly to the trapezoidal rule, when using the Simpsons rule you must first
begin by dividing the area using parallel line equal distance apart from one another.
Rather than closing these shapes to form trapezoid we will cap them with arcs. It is
important to note that these arcs are not that of a circle but of a parabola, so this
method is most appropriate for calculating the area under a curve. The sum of all
these areas gives you an approximate area. Deriving the equation for the Simpsons
rule involves mathematics far outside the realm of my one personal capability so for
the purpose of this report it will be simply stated as:

h
A= ( y 0 + 4 y 1+ 2 y 2 + 4 y 3 +2 y n 2 + 4 y n1+ y n) .
3

2.3 Areas by Integration

The previously two discussed methods, the summation of areas, can be used
to find an approximate area under a curve. However, integration uses a similar
premise to calculate a more exact area. Integration is essentially the summation of
an infinite amount of parallel lines between two bound. The summation of the areas
of all these lines derives an exact area. Thus, in mathematics the integral of a given
function is the area under its curve.
If one considers the width of one of these parallel lines to be dx then the
length of the line is considered to be the y-coordinate this line intersects with on the
curve. The summation of areas of all these lines between any two points on a graph
b

can then be calculated by the equation:

A= ydx
a

or

A= f ( x ) dx . This
a

equation is suitable for calculating areas vertically, however, when a curve is such
that the area must be calculated horizontally then the x-coordinate becomes the
length of each line and the distance y is its width so the equation for finding the
b

area becomes:

A= xdy
a

or

A= g ( y ) dy .
a

3.0 Measurements for Calculating Volume

To this point we have not discussed three dimensional objects. One any shape
is given a third dimension its volume can be calculates. This report will introduce
the most commonly known three dimensional shapes otherwise known as solids.
The most common solid figure is the rectangular solid. This figure has six sides,
known as faces; each of these faces is rectangular in shape. Another commonly
known solid is the cylinder. The cylinder is simply a rectangle rotated about one of
its sides such that its base is circular. Next is the circular cone. A circular cone is
generated by rotating a right angle triangle about one of its legs. Similar to the cone
is the pyramid. The cone and pyramid share similar qualities but a pyramids base is
rectangular rather than circular and its sides are triangular. Finally we have the
sphere. A sphere is generated by rotating a circle about its diameter. The
calculations for surface area and volume of these solids are given by the following
table:

Figure 3: Source Washington p.72 ch.26

3.1 Volumes by Integration

3.1.1 Volume of a Curve
As discussed in an earlier section (3.0 Measurements for Calculating Volume)
an object becomes a solid when rotated about a point of axis. This is conceptually
true when a function is depicted graphically. The volume of a curve can be
calculated such that the cross sectional area dx

dy

or

is rotated about its

respective axis creating a three dimensional solid. The volume of a function is

b

derived from its integral using the formula

b

revolving about the x-axis and

V = y dx = [f ( x ) ]2 dx
2

for volumes

V = x2 dy= [f ( x ) ]2 dy
a

for volumes revolving

about the y-axis.

3.1.2 Volume of a Shell
There are certain functions that when revolved
about their respective axis they do not create a disc but
rather a cylindrical shell. This cylindrical shell is created
by the formation of two concentric with its given height
either

or x . The volume of these functions is made

up of the summation of an infinite number of cylinders

between the two bounds stated. Since we have noted in earlier sections (1.4 Circles)
the area of a circle, then by multiplying this equation by a height and taking its
integral we can calculate its volume. Similar to the equation in the previous section
b

the volume of a cylindrical shell can be calculated using the formula

, where x is its radius, y is its height and dx is its thickness.

V =2 xydx
a

4.0 Trigonometry to Solve for Cantilevers

Figure 4 Source: Blackboard learning materials

*Note: Depending on known sides and angles of the given triangle the other
respective trigonometric functions

sin cos can be used to solve in the same

equations to solve for unknown variables.

5.0 Centroids
In mathematics, particularly mechanics, the
centroid is an objects center of mass. Before
discussing centroids we must first become familiar
with the concept of moments. A moment is the
tendency of an object to rotate about a point. Since
a moment is force it can be calculated by multiplying
its mass times a distance from or

F=md .

If we are to prevent an object from rotating

about a point we must find its center of mass, or
centroid, which is the a point

Figure 5 Source:
Washington p. 793

units away from the given point where all the

masses could be concentrated to find an identical total moment. The balancing of

an equation to find objects centroid can then be noted as:

m1 d 1 +m1 d1 ++ m1 d 1=(m1+ m2 ++ mn) d

5.0 Dimensionless Groups

With regard to mathematics and engineering principles a dimensionless
group is a quantity to which no physical dimension is relevant; it is often referred to
as a dimension of one. Entities such as

,e ,

are commonly used numbers

which can be regarded as dimensionless. To give some perspective on the matter

quantities which are no dimensionless are values such as time or distance which
can be measured in seconds or meters. A final note to make with respect to
dimensionless groups is that they are typically ratio or products of other quantities.
Strain, for instance, is the derived by dividing a change in length by its initial length.
Once this process is applied the units will cancel each other out and strain is
therefore dimensionless.

= l/l i .

5.1 Reynolds Number

Reynolds number is used in fluid mechanics to predict flow patterns in given
scenarios. The technical definition of a Reynolds number is the ratio of inertial
forces to viscous forces to calculate flow conditions. The application of the
Reynolds number formula is typically used to categorize a fluids flow as laminar or
turbulent. Laminar flow is flow such that the Reynolds number is low thus the
viscous forces are greater than that of the inertial forces. Turbulent flow is then the
result of a high Reynolds number such that the inertial forces are dominant.

inerial forces vL
=
viscous forces

density, and

where v is velocity, l is characteristic length,

is the

is the dynamic viscosity.

6.0 Units and Unit Conversions

When dealing with any problem in mathematics and engineering it is
essential to both identify and unify all units. Below are two sources images
identifying commonly used units as well as conversions between metric and
imperial units:

Figure 6 Source: www.lhup.edu

Bibliography
[1 A. J. Washington, "Geometry," in Technical Mathmatic 10th Edition, Chicago,
] Peason, 2013, pp. 59-872.

Algonquin College

Center for Construction Excellence

Department of Architecture, Civil and Building

Science
BCS2300 Applied Mathematics

Case Study # 1 Area, Volume, and Energy Calculations in Buildings

Name: Scott Rogers

Student Number: 040585569
For: Dr. Abdul Al-Azzawi
Date: March 14, 2016