Figuring Square Footage and Yardage

Date: 12/14/2002 at 23:29:13
From: Coal Lankston
Subject: How do you figure square footage and yardage

What is the exact calculation used in order to determine square 
footage or yardage of a given room?  

Thank you for your assistance.

Date: 12/15/2002 at 08:37:01
From: Doctor Jerry
Subject: Re: How do you figure square footage and yardage

To find the area in square feet, measure two adjacent sides of the 
room, using feet as the unit. If you find one wall is, say, 12 feet 
and 7 inches, then express this in feet by doing this:

12 + 7/12 = 12 + 0.5833 = 12.5833 feet

If the other wall is 9 feet and 6 inches, then 

9+6/12 = 9 +0.5 = 9.5 feet

To calculate the area, multiply the two sides (expressed in feet) 
together:

12.5833 * 9.5 = 119.54 sq ft.

Another way (ignore this if you think it will confuse the issue) is 
to convert everything to inches:

12' 7" = 12*12+7 = 144+7 = 151 in
 9' 6" = 108+6 = 114 in

Then the area of the room in square inches is

151*114 = 17214 sq in

To convert this to square ft, divide by 144:

17214/144 = 119.54 sq ft.

Once you have the area in square feet, say 119.54 sq ft, you can find 
the area in square yards by dividing by 9 (because 1 square yard is 3 
feet by 3 feet, that is 9 sq ft):

119.54/9 = 13.28 sq yds.

- Doctor Jerry, The Math Forum
  http://mathforum.org/dr.math/