The 'traversing' by 'Bowditch rule' (compass rule) distributes closing error:
Choose the correct answer
Equally to all traverse lines regardless of length
Proportional to line length — longer lines get larger corrections (Bowditch/compass rule assumes error ∝ distance)
Only to the longest line (one correction)
Proportional to the included angle at each station
Correct Answer
B. Proportional to line length — longer lines get larger corrections (Bowditch/compass rule assumes error ∝ distance)
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Bowditch (compass) rule: distributes closing error in latitude and departure proportionally to the length of each line. Correction to latitude of line i = −e_L × (l_i / Σl) where e_L = total latitude error, l_i = length of line i. Same for departure. Principle: measurement error ∝ length (longer line → more random error). Transit rule: correction ∝ latitude/departure (used when angles more accurate than distances). Bowditch: most commonly used.
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