Republic of the Philippines

Bohol Island State University - Bilar Campus

Zamora, Bilar, Bohol
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Agriculture Department

Name: Leonardo T. Teomale Jr. Date Performed: February 10, 2020

Course & Year: BSA - 2G Date Due: _______________
Date Submitted: _______________

ENG’G 1
(Fundamentals of Agricultural Engineering)
Lab. Exercise No. 2
DETERMINATION OF AN INDIVIDUAL’S PACE FACTOR

INTRODUCTION
Pacing is the simplest and easiest method for measuring distance. Pacing is the
process of walking the distance and counting the number of steps “paces” to cover
the distance. The distance is determined by multiplying the number of steps taken
between two points by one’s face factor. A person’s face factor is determined by
pacing (walking) a measured distance, usually 300 to 500 ft, several times and
determining the average length of pace (step). With practice it is possible to pace a
distance with an error of less than 2 ft per 100 ft.

To achieve that level of precision a person must learn to adopt a pacing step that is
different from their normal walking step because many factors can cause variations in
the length of person’s pace. Three of these are the roughness of the surface, the
slope of the ground, and the type of vegetation. Care must be taken to ensure that a
consistent pace factor is used. One advantage of pacing for measuring distance is
that it doesn’t require any specialized equipment. The biggest disadvantage is that it
requires being able to walk the route. It is not very useful for measuring distance in
rough terrain, across swamps or any other terrain where an individual could not walk
the distance or walk in the straight line.

OBJECTIVES
1. Determine the individual pace factor on both level and sloping grounds.
2. Estimate an unknown distance on both level and sloping grounds using the
individual pace factor.

EQUIPMENT
Surveying tape, chalk

PROCEDURE

I. Level Ground
A. Determination of the Individual Pace Factor (PF) on a Known Distance:
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1. A straight course of a known distance will be assigned by the laboratory

instructor. Mark the ends of the course with either hubs, chaining pins, pegs,
marking crayons or chalks depending on the type of surface. Designate the
ends of the said course as points A and B.
2. For the first trial, start from one end (say point A) either with a heel or toe and
walk over the marked course at an ordinary gait towards the other end (say
point B). Count and record the number of paces done to reach the other end
(say point B). If a fractional pace is obtained at the end of the course, it may
be visually approximated to within a tenth of a pace.
3. For the second trial, reverse direction and count again the number of paces
to cover the same course. That is, start on the end point of the course (say
point B) going back to the starting point (say point A) of the previous trial.
4. For the succeeding trials, repeat the directions used in trials 1 and 2 until five
trials have been accomplished. Record the number of paces in each trial (P)
in the table below and determine the individual pace factor (PF) using
equations (1) and (2).

Table 1. Determination of the individual pace factor on a level ground.

Trial Direction Number of Paces

(P)
1
2
3
4
5
MD = m ΣP =
paces
P = paces
PF =
m/pace

sum of the number of paces in n trials (ΣP)

Mean number of paces ( P ) = -------------------------------------------------------- (1)
number of trials (n)

measured distance of the course (MD), m

Pace factor (PF) = -------------------------------------------------------- (2)
mean number of paces ( P )

B. Estimation of an Unknown Distance on a Level Ground using the Pace Factor

1. An unknown straight course (say from point C to point D) will be assigned by
the laboratory instructor.
2. For the first trial, walk over the said straight course from point C to D at a
natural gait and record the number of paces taken to cover the entire course.
For the second trial, repeat trial 1 in a reverse direction. Repeat until 5 trials
have been made.
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3. Complete Table 2 below and calculate the paced distance (PD) by equation
(3) using the PF value obtained from equation (2) or in Table 1. This paced
distance (PD) is the estimated distance of the unknown course. Determine
the actual distance of the unknown course by measuring it using a surveying
tape. Calculate the percentage error (PE) and relative precision (RP) using
equations (4) and (5).

Table 2. Estimation of an unknown distance on a level ground using an individual’s pace

factor.

Trial Direction Number of Paces

(P)
1
2
3
4
5
MD = m ΣP= paces
PD = P = paces
m
PE = RP =
%

Paced Distance (PD) = P (PF) (3)

/MD – PD/
Percentage Error (PE) = ---------------- (100) (4)
MD

PE
Relative Precision (RP) = ------- (5)
100

The accepted value of RP is < 0.005. If RP > 0.005, then repeat the above
procedure.

II. Sloping Ground

A. Determination of the Individual Pace Factor (PF) on a Known Distance:
1. A straight sloping course with a known distance will be assigned by the
laboratory instructor. Designate the ends of the course as points E and F.
2. Walk naturally over the given sloping course five (5) times in a single
direction only. That is, do all the five (5) trials in either uphill or downhill
direction. Complete Table 3 and calculate the individual pace factor (PF)
using equations (1) and (2).

Table 3. Determination of the individual pace factor on a sloping ground.

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Trial Direction Number of Paces

(P)
1
2
3
4
5
MD = m ΣP= paces
P = paces
PF =
m/pace

sum of the number of paces in n trials (ΣP)

Mean number of paces ( P ) = -------------------------------------------------------- (1)
number of trials (n)

measured distance of the course (MD), m

Pace factor (PF) = -------------------------------------------------------- (2)
mean number of paces ( P )

B. Estimation of an Unknown Distance on a Sloping Ground using the Pace

Factor
1. A straight sloping course (say GH) with an unknown distance will be
assigned by the laboratory instructor.
2. Walk naturally over the given sloping course five (5) times in a single
direction similar to the chosen direction in procedure II.A.2. Complete Table
4 and calculate the paced distance (PD), percentage error (PE) and relative
precision (RP) using equations (3), (4) and (5).

Table 4. Estimation of an unknown distance on a sloping ground using the individual’s

pace factor.

Trial Direction Number of Paces

(P)
1
2
3
4
5
MD = m ΣP=
paces
PD = P =
m paces
PE = RP =
%

Paced Distance (PD) = P (PF) (3)

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/MD – PD/
Percentage Error (PE) = ---------------- (100) (4)
MD

PE
Relative Precision (RP) = ------- (5)
100

The accepted value of RP is < 0.005. If RP > 0.005, then repeat the above

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

LEVEL GROUND
NUMBER OF PACES (P)
TRIALS DIRECTIONS KNOWN DISTANCE UNKNOWN DISTANCE
1 Point A-B & C-D 60 paces 7 = 67 paces
2 Point D-C & B-A 61 paces 7.5 = 68.5 paces
3 Point A-B & C-D 60.5 paces 7 = 67.5 paces
4 Point D-C & B-A 60 paces 7 = 67 paces
5 Point A-B & C-D 60.5 paces 7 = 67.5 paces
ΣP : 302 paces ΣP : 337.5 paces
MD : 41.6 m MD : 46.38 m
P : 60.4 paces P : 67.5 paces
PF : 0.69 m/pace PD : 46.575 m
PE : 0.42 %
RP : 0.004

Solution:

Step 1. Find the mean number of Step 2. Find the pace factor
paces in a known distance
MD
ΣP PF = ———
P = ——— P
n
41.6 m
302 pace = —————
= ————— 60.4 paces
5
PF = 0.69 m/pace
P = 60.4 paces

Step 3. Multiply the mean paces of an Step 4. Get the percent error
unknown distance to the pace factor to
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get pace distance /MD-PD/

PE = ———— (100)
PD = P(PF) MD

= 67.5 paces(0.69 m/pace) /46.38 m - 46.575 m/

= ————————— (100)
PD = 46.575 m 46.38 m

/-0.195/
Step 5. Get relative precision = ———— (100)
46.38 m
PE 0.42 %
RP = —— = ——— = 0.0042 = 0.0042(100) PE = 0.42 %
100 100

SLOPING GROUND
NUMBER OF PACES (P)
TRIALS DIRECTIONS KNOWN DISTANCE UNKNOWN DISTANCE
1 Point A-B & C-D 63.5 paces 12 = 75 paces
2 Point D-C & B-A 63 paces 11 = 74 paces
3 Point A-B & C-D 64 paces 11 = 75 paces
4 Point D-C & B-A 62.5 paces 11.5 = 74 paces
5 Point A-B & C-D 63.5 paces 11 = 74 paces
ΣP : 316.5 paces ΣP : 372 paces
MD : 42.2 m MD : 49.66 m
P : 63.3 paces P : 74.4 paces
PF : 0.67 m/pace PD : 49.848 m
PE : 0.37 %
RP : 0.0037

Solution:

Step 1. Find the mean number of Step 2. Find the pace factor
paces in a known distance
MD
ΣP PF = ———
P = ——— P
n
42.2 m
316.5 paces = —————
= ————— 63.3 paces
5
PF = 0.67 m/pace
P = 63.3 paces

Step 3. Multiply the mean paces of an Step 4. Get the percent error
unknown distance to the pace factor to
get pace distance /MD-PD/
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PE = ———— (100)
PD = P(PF) MD

= 74.4 paces(0.67 m/pace) /49.66 m - 49.848 m/

= ————————— (100)
PD = 49.848 m 49.66 m

/-0.188/
Step 5. Get relative precision = ———— (100)
49.66 m
PE 0.37 %
RP = —— = ——— = 0.0037 = 0.0037(100) PE = 0.37 %
100 100

CONCLUSION

REFERENCE(S)

Definition:

A pace is the distance between the left and right foot with one foot ahead of the
other. It is measured either from one heel to the other heel or from one toe to the other
toe. The accepted relative precision (RP) in the estimation of an unknown distance by
pacing should be less than 1/200 or 0.005.