FIELD WORK 1 PACING ON LEVEL GROUND

OBJECTIVES AND INSTRUMENTS

OBJECTIVES:

1. To develop the skills of taping the distance on a level ground where the tape is fully supported by the
ground.
2. To acquire the skills of taping the distance on an uneven ground where the tape is only supported at
the ends.

INSTRUMENTS:

1. 2-Range Pole
2. Chalk
3. 50-meter tape

PROCEDURES AND COMPUTATIONS

For the first part of the field work, the determination of Individual Pace Factor, the following procedures are:
1. The professor measures and designates a 50m course on a level ground. (Remember to remove the
tape while the students will be pacing on the course to prevent them from using the tape as a basis for
a straight course.)
2. The ends of the assigned course are marked with either hubs or marking pins or, by chalk marks if on
pavements. Designate the points as A and B.
3. Set or hold range poles behind points A and B or outside the course AB. These poles will aid the
students to travel in a straight path.
4. Each student should take turn pacing the course from A to B starting with heel or toe over A, keeping
their eyes focus on the range pole behind point B to keep themselves on the straight path. One has to
walk in their natural unaffected manner, and has to keep counting their number of paces for the entire
course being covered. A partial pace at the end of the course should be figured out to the nearest one
fourth of a pace. Record this as the number of paces for Trial No. 1.
5. For Trial No.2, each student should walk from B to A in the same manner as in the first trial.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for subsequent trials to comply with the number of trials required by the
professor.
7. Data should be entered in the preliminary data sheet.

For the second part of the field work, the determination of an unknown distance of the assigned course through
pacing, the following procedures are:
1. The professor marks the ends of a level course to be paced by each student.
2. Range poles are to be set up outside the level course to straighten the path of the student.
 3. Each student paces the course with the minimum number of trials as required, recording the
number of paces for each trial.
4. The professor, after all field notes shall have been submitted assigns two students to make an
actual taping of the course to determine its actual taped distance.

COMPUTATIONS:
The computation of sample field notes is done in accordance with the steps listed hereunder:

A) Computations of P.F.
1. Get the sum of the 5 trials and divide its sum by number of trials to get the mean.

𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠

N=mean number of paces= 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠

2. Divide the length of the course by the mean number of paces to get the individual Pace Factor P.F.
𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑚
P.F.= 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 ∗ 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒

B) Computation of an unknown distance and percent error

1. Get the sum of the number of paces in each trial and divide this sum by the number of trials performed
to get the mean.

𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠

N=mean number of paces = 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠

2. Multiply the mean number of paces of the unknown distance by the pace factor (P.F.) to obtain the
paced distance

P.D.=(N)*(P.F.)

3. Divide the difference between the taped distance and the paced distance by the error taped distance
and multiply the quotient by 100% to get the percentage of error.

𝑇𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 – 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒

Percentage of error = 𝑥 100
𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠

THE PRINCIPLE:
A pace maybe measured form heel to heel of from toe to toe. While half pace is from toe of one foot to
the heel of the other foot, to keep one on the line while pacing, it is good practice to fix his eyes on a distant
object at the range behind the pole on the farther end of the line being paced. Since the accepted precision of
measuring distance by pacing is 1/300, it should be used only for estimating distance such as those used for
sketching and making reconnaissance surveys.
 Heel to heel Heel to Toe Toe to Toe Individual’s Foot Length

PRECISION OF PACING A DISTANCE:

The precision of measuring a distance by pacing is only 1/300.
Precision of pacing a distance = 1/300
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
1. Why is it important to know the individual’s pace factor?
2. Name Three most important pointers that an individual must remember to follow in order to make
his/her approximation of the distance of an unknown course to be as accurate as possible.
3. A student tries to measure the perimeter of a small Park of his community by pacing around the area for
three consecutive times. The number of paces was tallied at 535,543 and 539 respectively, for each trial.
If the student’s pace factor is 0.74m/pace, determine the actual perimeter of the land.
4. Every morning, joy walks school from her boarding house and takes only a single route. For five
consecutive days, she tries to count the number of paces she makes. Monday morning’s number of paces
made joy is listed as 345 pace. On Tuesday, 353 paces; Wednesday; 358 paces; Thursday, 348 paces, and
lastly, on Friday 355 paces. That Friday afternoon, a surveyor from city engineer’s office who is tasked
to lay out a new drainage piping system, measured the exact route she took and found out that the
taped distance is 275 m. What is joy’s pace factor?

5. The table shown below was taken from Jack’s notes when he tried to determine the perimeter of his
newly acquired agricultural piece of land. Knowing that his pace factor is 0.81, determine the perimeter
of his lot. Complete the table.
TRIAL LINE NO. OF PACED PACED PERIMETER
PACES FACTOR DISTANCE
1 AB 125.25
2 BC 85
3 CD 79.5
4 DE 133
5 EF 185
6 FA 112

6. The length of the basketball court from MIT’s Gym was paced by a CE student whose pace factor is 0.78.
How many paces accurate to ¼ of a pace do you think did the student make?
 PRELIMINARY DATA SHEET
FIELD WORK 1 PACING ON LEVEL GROUND
DATE:____________ GROUP NO. _________________
TIME:____________ LOCATION: __________________
WEATHER:___________ PROFESSOR: ________________
A. PACE FACTOR (P.F.) DETERMINATION
TRIAL LINE TAPED NO. OF MEAN PACE
DISTANCE PACES FACTOR

B. COMPUTATIONS

C. MEASURING DISTANCE BY PACING

TRIAL LINE NO. OF PACES MEAN PACED PACED TAPED ERROR

FACTOR DISTANCE DISTANCE

D. COMPUTATIONS:

E. SKETCH

SIGNATURE OF STUDENT

SIGNATURE OF PROFESSOR