Surveying Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The instrument is the passometer.

A passometer is a watch-shaped instrument carried in the pocket or strapped to the leg. A pendulum inside moves with each step, and the instrument automatically registers the number of paces. Multiplying by the length of the surveyor's pace gives an approximate distance, which is useful for reconnaissance.

A pedometer works similarly but is set to the length of the pace and shows distance directly rather than the count of paces. An odometer registers the revolutions of a wheel and so measures distance travelled by a wheel. A speedometer shows speed, not paces.

Answer: A

The scale 1/1000 is 1cm=10m.

A representative fraction of 1/1000 means one unit on the map stands for 1000 of the same units on the ground. So 1 cm on paper represents 1000 cm, and

\[ 1000 \text{ cm} = 10 \text{ m} \]

giving 1 cm = 10 m.

1 cm = 100 m is the scale 1/10000. 1 cm = 100 mm is 1/10, and 1 cm = 100 cm is 1/100. Each is out by a power of ten, a common slip when converting between centimetres and metres.

Answer: A

A passometer measures the number of paces in a given distance.

The passometer counts each step automatically as the surveyor walks. Multiplying the count by the average length of the surveyor's pace gives a rough distance, which is good enough for reconnaissance and small-scale surveys.

It does not measure steps in a vertical plane, nor count obstacles. Counting the revolutions of a wheel over a distance is the job of an odometer or a perambulator (measuring wheel), not a passometer.