Perimeter
Perimeter:
Definition
"The length of a closed curve bounding a plane area" - The American Heritage Dictionary
Description:
As it says in the above description perimeter is the outer boundary of an area or the measure of that boundary. In this case we will be using the measure of this boundary. A common confusion is that perimeter determines area. This in general is a false statement. Imagine a garden with a perimeter of 36ft. Now we could make that garden 17x1 and it would have an area 17sq.ft. Or we could construct a garden 9x9 and it would have an are of 81sq.ft. quite a big difference. But hey, they have the same perimeter. That just goes to prove that theory wrong. So perimeter can really only be used to determine something involving the distance around a space.
Formula's:
There isn't a whole lot of difference in the formulas determining perimeter but I'll define a few.
Perimter of a Circle:pi x diameter
Perimeter of a Rectangle:(2xL) + (2xW)
It is basically the sum of all the sides of a shape.
Application:
If I decided to landscape my yard perimeter would probably be the first measurement I would want to find, why? Because after finding perimeter I could find the distance of chain-link fencing I would need to sorround the entire yard. In the case of my yard this becomes tricky because I have two level fencing and my house takes the place of quite a bit of it. So to set up the equation to find the supplies I would need to build this fence I would do the following.
(2 x L) + (2 x W) = Perimeter(P)
P - (length of house)= Fecned Perimeter (F)
F - W = Perimeter of Short Fencing (4ft Tall)(S)
(S x 4ft) + (W x 7ft) = *Area of Fencing needed*
S / 6ft = Number of Short support poles placed every 6ft(SP)
W / 6ft = Number of Long Supports needed (LP)
(LP x 7) + (SP x 4) = *Length of Support Pole Material Needed*
By using the formulas listed above plus some simple algebra I was able to determine how much fencing and pole material I needed to fence my back yard.
