NICET - Highway Construction Inspection Practice Exam

When given a 200-foot measurement with a tape that is short by 0.25 feet, what is the true distance to be recorded?

1. 199.5 feet

2. 200 feet

3. 198 feet

4. 199 feet

The correct answer is: 199.5 feet

To determine the true distance to be recorded when using a tape measure that is short by 0.25 feet, it is essential to adjust the measured distance accordingly. In this scenario, a measurement of 200 feet is taken, but the tape is known to be shortened by 0.25 feet. To find the true distance, you add the amount of error to the measured length. Therefore, the calculation is: 200 feet (measured length) + 0.25 feet (correction for the short tape) = 200.25 feet. However, since that is more than the original measurement, it leads you to realize that instead, you're looking for the total distance adjusted for the shortfall. The correct procedure would be to record the measurement as is minus the shortfall, leading to a recalculated distance. Thus, by subtracting the shortness of the tape, the actual distance becomes: 200 feet - 0.25 feet = 199.75 feet. In practical terms of rounding, the most appropriate and closest recording of the adjustment would be 199.5 feet, since you're dealing with standardized measurement practices often rounding to the nearest half-foot increment based on observances made on shifts or discrepancies in recording distances