How Is Geometry Used in Engineering?
Of all the engineering disciplines, geometry is mostly used in civil engineering through surveying activities, explains TryEngineering.org. Geometry involves the analysis and study of relationships among shapes, and civil engineers design and assemble shapes to construct buildings, bridges, highway systems, tunnels, dams and other structures.
Civil engineers must understand how to compute quantities, such as volumes, areas, lengths, curvatures and moments of inertia. Furthermore, they must know how to determine the spatial relationship among shapes. Through advanced software, engineers break up objects into elemental pieces, like cubes, pyramids and triangles, to assess the strains and stresses within them. Engineers use descriptive geometry to visualize, analyze and design structures and objects. Fractal geometry helps them analyze various entities, such as the porosity of soils, the clumping of materials and the friction between objects. All of these involve geometric patterns that repeat on a decreasing scale.
According to Teachnology, geometry has numerous practical uses in daily life. For example, in engineering projects, the concept of perimeter is used to compute the amount of material needed for a specific project. Space is also an important factor in planning construction projects. A thorough knowledge of geometry helps engineers and many other professionals perform their job properly.
