One of the most important parts of planning a building or home improvement project is determining how much material is needed. In many projects, this means finding the size/linearity of the materials used in the project as many common building materials (such as wood and steel) are often measured in meters and sold by retailers. Also, with proper measurements, the numbers for "size" can be applied to the numbers for squares and cubics (boards). Therefore, knowing how to find the size of the materials needed for a project is an important skill for any home improvement expert.
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Method 1 of 2: Finding the Size of Materials in a Project
Step 1. Divide your project into different categories of materials
All construction projects (and most of them in household improvement projects) involve each other in complete raw materials. In order to be able to determine how many sizes each type of project material should be, you will need, first, you divide the materials by category, grouping similar materials with each other.
For example, let's do some planning for a relatively easy project, namely building a bookshelf. Let's say the bookshelf is made of 2x4 planks at the top and bottom. The third layer in the middle is made of 1x12 board. In this case, we will divide it into two categories, namely building materials, namely 2x4x12 boards
Step 2. Use a tape measure or ruler to measure each piece
Once you know what building materials you will use in your project, then measure the length of the sections of each material. Since the one we are using is linear, we don't have to worry about the width or thickness of the material. When you've measured, be careful not to cut to the same size, this can help you to sketch the project and mark each section with a label.
According to our example, let's say you use 2x4 boards for the sides of a bookshelf that are 2.5 meters long and 1x12 boards to use the top, bottom, and shelves all 1.8 meters long
Step 3. Add spacing to different types of materials
Next, add the distance to each material that has been made of the same type to get the same total value. This value is the size you will need if you are going to buy a long board for one of your projects and then cut it into very small pieces. If your project uses multiple pieces of the same material as the new one, you'll get three times fast.
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For example, since we have 2.5 meters long on two sides of the piece made of 2x4 board, the other 5 pieces, made of 1x3 board (top and bottom), we can find by multiplying the total as follows:
- 2x4 board: 8x2= 4.8 meters
- 1x12 board: 6x5= 9.1 meter
Step 4. Use the total amount to determine material costs
When you know how, most of the materials for each of your projects, it is necessary to know how much you are going to buy. Find out the price of each type (material) and the total number of linear values based on the type of material, then you will know the total price of all materials.
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Based on the example in this case, we need a 2x4 board 4.8 meters long and a 1x12 board 9.1 meter long. Let's say that the selling price for a 2x4 board is 18 thousand rupiah per meter and the selling price for a 1x12 board is 28 thousand rupiah. In this case, you determine the cost of these materials by the following calculation:
- 2x4 board: Rp.18.000 x 16 = Rp.288.000
- Board size 1x12: Rp.28.000 x 30 = Rp.840,000
Step 5. Be careful with your purchases
When it comes to building projects, one of the trade service tips is to always carry more interesting materials than you need. Do this to give yourself some space to explain any errors in calculations or mistakes you made in the project. While this will increase the overall cost of materials, it is usually true in the long run as you have to go back to the hardware store if you don't have enough materials to buy.
As we know, you have determined that you need about 16 meters of 2x4 board and 30 meters of 1x12 board. To play it safe, maybe we want to buy 6 meters and 10 meters respectively. If there are any left you can use them to place dividers on some shelves
Method 2 of 2: Using Linearity to Find Other Values
Step 1. Find the area of the length and width
When you know the length of all the materials you need for your project, you can use this information to help make other calculations related to your project. For example, two dimensions are area by length times width and you can use the measurement of the length of the material that makes up the rectangle to find the area to be bounded. In this case all you need to do is multiply the length measurements. It should be noted, however, that in order to obtain the values required for an exact calculation, extra measuring devices may be required.
- Back to the example question above. Which assumes that you want to cover the entire back of the bookshelf. In this case, the sides of the bookshelf are 8 meters up and 6 meters down. After all, this answer fails to explain the thickness of the 2x4 boards used as the sides of the bookshelf.
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Say, after measuring, you get a 2 x 4 board with a thickness of 5 cm. Since the bookshelf has two sides, it is actually 10.16 cm (one-third of a foot) wider than five centimeters. So, to find the board we need, you would do the following calculations:
8 x 6.33 = 4.7 square meters.
Step 2. To form a non-rectangular equation
Not all projects will create multiple rectangles; other possible forms. If you're on a simple shape (like, a circle or a triangle), usually at a certain distance it will get a certain value and this will shape the area as long as you measure everything correctly:
- Circle: (r)2 - r is the length value from the center of the circle to the end of the circle (radius).
- Triangle: (hb)/2 - b is the length of one side with the height of the hypotenuse of a triangle.
- Square: s2 - s the length of the side of the square.
- Trapezoid: (1/2)(a + b)(h) - a and b are the lengths of the parallel sides and h is the distance between them.
Step 3. If possible, cut it into a regular shape, it doesn't have to be small
Some projects use simple 2D object presets. In this case, try to fix the irregular shape into a regular form with several shapes through the part that can be calculated by a simple equation. In some cases, this will require dividing the result of an equation, therefore only certain forms are used.
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Let's return to the example problem above. Imagine that, in addition to adding material to the back of the bookshelf, you want a semicircle more than 1 meter wide from the board above the bookshelf, so you can see the clock above. There is no easy equation to find a rectangular section with a semicircle that extends from above. However, in this case, you can use the existing square values and add 0.5 meters from about 1 meter wide of the circle. To determine the amount, it can be seen as follows:
4.7 + (1/2)(π(1.5)2) = 4.7 + (1/2)(7.07) = 8,235 square meters
Step 4. Find the cube of length, width and and height
Some projects will require the volume of a three-dimensional space. Since volume is length x width x height, you can find the volume of a rectangular object or space by using the materials you use to determine these dimensions.
- Let's say the problem in the example above, you want to determine the approximate volume of a 3-dimensional bookshelf that you are creating. We know how long and wide there are, so we measure the height of the shelf and get 0.5 meters. With these measurements, we can find the volume of the bookshelf simply by multiplying the dimensions as follows:
- 8 × 6.33 × 0.5 = 50.64 × 0.5 = 25.32 cubic.
Simple formula to calculate area
- Square: length x width
- Right triangle: (length x width)/2
- isosceles triangle: root 3 divided by 4 times the side length
- Oval: length r x width r.
Suggestion
- The vendor must have determined the length, width and height of the material feet. Pay attention to the tags.
- Remember that this wood is denoted by a rough measure: the true dimension of 2x4, for example, is actually closer to 3.8 cm x 8.9 cm.
- The term "linear" is sometimes used synonymously with "lineal". In fact, this usage is incorrect. The word “linear” is meant to denote measurement, while the word “lineal” is usually used in the context of genealogy or family history.
