Section 4: Soil and Water Conservation Engineering
Surveying: Distance, Angles & Traversing
Subtopic: Bowditch rule vs Transit rule
Question Statement:
The Bowditch (Compass) rule for balancing a closed traverse assumes that:
Options:
(A) Errors in linear measurements are proportional to $\sqrt{l}$ and angular errors are inversely proportional to $\sqrt{l}$
(B) Angular measurements are far more precise than linear measurements
(C) Errors in latitudes and departures are proportional to the coordinates
(D) Only linear measurements contain systematic tape errors
Answer Key:
A
Step-by-Step Solution & Explanation
Bowditch's rule is based on the assumption that random linear errors are proportional to $\sqrt{l}$ (where $l$ is line length) and angular errors are proportional to $1/\sqrt{l}$. Consequently, correction to latitude/departure of a line is directly proportional to the length of that line.