[NatureNS] Determining Elevation

Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2007 00:22:31 -0400
From: Lois Codling <loiscodling@hfx.eastlink.ca>
To: Nature NS <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
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Hi Jamie,

My husband, Don, sends you the following suggestion:

Many years ago, Ernest Thomas Seton published, in “Two little savages” a 
very simple means of measuring the distance to a remote object, using 
nothing but a few stakes, a string and a tape measure. It requires 
producing what in Geometry are called congruent triangles. you make a 
small triangle you can measure that matches a large one which you can’t 
measure, and easily get your distance.

1. Pick a visible point on the shoreline and call it O
2. Place a stake beside your house (call this A)
3. Place a stake (B) 4 m from A, directly in line with O (ABO is a 
straight line)
4. Establish a right angle to that line
a. Tie your string to B, measure a 5 m length & use this to mark an ark 
in the area around a right angle to the line AB
b. Tie your string to A, measure a 3 m length & use this to mark an ark 
which crosses the previous arc. Put stake C in the intersection.
c. The line AC is at right angles to AB
5. Measure from A 30 m along the line AC and put in a stake D. ACD 
should be in a straight line.
6. Measure from D a further 3 m in the same line and put in stake E. 
ACDE should form a straight line (note that DE is 1/10 of the length of AD)
7. At E mark a right angle to the line ACDE, in the direction away from 
O, in the same way you established the right angle at A
a. Tie your string to E, measure a 4 m length and mark an arc 
approximately where the right angle line will come
b. Tie your string to D, measure a 5' length, and mark an arc crossing 
the previous arc. Put a stake F at the intersection
c. The line EF is at right angles to the line ACDE
8. Extend that line to a point at which you can sight over the stake D 
directly towards O
a. Insert a stake G at that point. GDO should be in a straight line.
b. Measure from G to E
c. The distance A to O is exactly 10 x the distance from G to E (or as 
exactly as your measurements and stake placements allow).

Lois Codling


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