Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, I wasn't sure if the Math Forum was the correct place for my question, so I'm also posting here. . .I hope that's OK. .

I need to find the area of the area of land that receives more than 280 inches of rain per year. (Only the area in the very center--the summit of Mt. Waialeale)

http://www.oregonphotos.com/Resources/k ... er-map.gif


I do not have access to a sensitive scale, and the project is due on Tuesday.

I would really appreciate any advice or methods on how to find this area. (Any computer programs?) Please help!

Thank you in advance!

Hi,

I could not find the information directly, but I think the following information will help answer the question.

Here's a website that shows the area that gets more than 280 inches per year in dark pink:

http://askville.amazon.com/Kauai-Island ... eId=233011

And, it includes a Google map of Kauai that you can use to get an approximate idea of the scale of the map in miles. You should then be able to measure the dark pink areas and get a good estimate of the highest rainfall area.

Donna Hardy

Hi,

If you have the information on the distances, you can calculate the area of an irregular shape of land using the calculator from this website:

http://www.csgnetwork.com/areacalc.html

Or, if you don't have the program on your computer, then you can use the method described in this website for caculating the area of an irregular polygon. You can break down the area into various geometric shapes and calculate the area of each shape and then add the sum. It might be helpful to draw the area on graph paper first.

http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/52053.html

Good luck!

Donna Hardy

Yes. . . I suppose a good estimate is the best I can do at this point.


Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate those sites.