What is the ground slope formula?

What is the ground slope formula?

• A. (horizontal distance*57.3)/vertical distance
• B. (vertical distance*57.3)/horizontal distance
• C. (vertical distance/ horizontal distance)*57.3
• D. (horizontal distance/ vertical distance)*57.3

Answer: (B)

Ground slope is about turning a rise over run into an angle. The rise over run gives the tangent of the slope angle, and to express that angle in degrees you multiply by 57.3 (since 57.3 is 180/π, the conversion factor from radians to degrees). For small slopes, arctan(rise/run) is close to rise/run, so the degree measure can be approximated as (rise/run) × 57.3. The form that multiplies the vertical distance by 57.3 and then divides by the horizontal distance is exactly that idea: it computes (rise/run) × 57.3. This aligns with the common, practical way to estimate ground slope in degrees. The other forms invert the ratio (which would give the reciprocal slope) and therefore don’t represent the slope angle in degrees.

Ground slope is about turning a rise over run into an angle. The rise over run gives the tangent of the slope angle, and to express that angle in degrees you multiply by 57.3 (since 57.3 is 180/π, the conversion factor from radians to degrees). For small slopes, arctan(rise/run) is close to rise/run, so the degree measure can be approximated as (rise/run) × 57.3. The form that multiplies the vertical distance by 57.3 and then divides by the horizontal distance is exactly that idea: it computes (rise/run) × 57.3. This aligns with the common, practical way to estimate ground slope in degrees. The other forms invert the ratio (which would give the reciprocal slope) and therefore don’t represent the slope angle in degrees.