NICET - Highway Construction Inspection Practice Exam

If a 100-foot tape is found to be short by 0.15 feet and you measure 350 feet, what is the true recorded distance?

1. 350.00 feet

2. 349.55 feet

3. 349.475 feet

4. 350.15 feet

The correct answer is: 349.475 feet

To determine the true recorded distance when a 100-foot tape is short by 0.15 feet, it's important to recognize that the tape measures less than the actual distance. When employing this tape to measure 350 feet, the measured distance will be less than what is actually there. First, since the tape is short by 0.15 feet for every 100 feet measured, the amount that it is short for 350 feet can be calculated proportionally. For every 100 feet, the tape falls short by 0.15 feet. Therefore, for 350 feet: 1. Calculate how many "100-foot units" are in 350 feet: \[ \frac{350 \text{ feet}}{100 \text{ feet/unit}} = 3.5 \text{ units} \] 2. Now, multiply the shortfall per unit by the number of units: \[ 3.5 \times 0.15 \text{ feet} = 0.525 \text{ feet} \] This means that the 350 feet measured on the tape is actually 0.525 feet shorter than the true distance. To find the true distance, add this shortfall