acres for horse track

We have 41 acres and would like a build a 7/8 mile horse track. The length of our property is 1/2 mile. Do we have enough room? What would the overall dimensions of the track be?

[thesmartfisherman.com]

I can't prove it mathematically (Yet) but I believe you can do it.

7/8 of a mile is 4,620 feet. So the circumference of the track is 4,620 feet.

Race tracks are oval. If we cut the track down the middle we get 2,310 feet on each side.

We also know that there are 4 gradual turns so the longest stretch of land you need will be less than 2,310 feet.

You said your land is a half mile long which is 2,640 feet. The additional 330 feet will be used depending on how wide you want the track. A normal width is about 80 feet.

I never took geometry although I wish I did. For someone with a geometry background this should be a simple calculation. I will try to expand on this later.

To solve this problem you need to know how many square miles are in an acre or change everyting into feet and square feet. If you were using the metric system since the unit of length is the meter than the unit of area becomes the square meter. A kilometer is one thousand meters and a square kilometer is one thousand meters by one thousand which turns turns to be one million square meters. So if his property is 1/2 mile one one side you need only find out how wide the other side is. Once you know that the question becomes is it wide enough for a circle with a circumference equal to 7/8 0f a mile. Dividing 7/8 mile by Pi (approx. 3.14159) will give you the diameter of the circle. Obviously the 1/2 mile side is long enough but what about the other? I will leave this to the engineer who like to use the english system. Also I don't know about the oval but a circle is just an oval without the straight aways not to be confused with an elipse. Other factors come into play with zoneing, room for stalls and such in a real situation. Also almost all pratical electrical measurements are made in the MKS (Meter, Kilogram, Second) metric system and the theoretical CGS (Centemeter, Gram, Second) system. The only english one I can think of though is measuring electric motor power in Horse Power. An electrical horsepower is equal to 775 watts. Imagine if the power company sent you bills in horsepower hours rather than kilowatt hours and you wanted to know how many horsepower hours were being used by a one hundred watt bulb lit for 7.75 hours? The best part about the metric system is that most conversions involve only 10's, 100's, and 1000's pure numbers like PI, and E, are the same for both. Many constants such as the ideal gas constant, the value of the gravitational constant when used in the metric sysem system are much easier to use in metric calculations. Tempture measurements are much easier when you consider that water melts at O degrees C rather than 32 degrees F boils at 100 degrees C or 212 degrees F that 273 degrees K (Kelvin) equal to 0 degrees C. (Kelvin an English Physist) is the absolute tempeture scale in the metric system what is the name for the abosolute temputure in the english system? I forgot? Now I know that most engineers don't like the english language but "I is engineer?" for someone who likes the english system. Shouldn't it be "I am an engineer." I could go on with additional things like calories vs Brittish Thermal Units but I will end here with only one more jibe at Mr Engineer do you like the english system because no one else wants to check all your converison factors there by insuring job security?

[Robert Fogt]

Check out this calculator here:
http://www.onlineconversion.com/shape_area_ellipse.htm

[thesmartfisherman.com]

Originally Posted by MIT Dropout

To solve this problem ................

Metric...Metric............. "I is engineer?"

Dude - what's with the rant? Post it in the general chat section.

[thesmartfisherman.com]

Originally Posted by Robert Fogt

Check out this calculator here:
http://www.onlineconversion.com/shape_area_ellipse.htm

Robert - That is a little helpful but a race track is not quite that shape.

[thesmartfisherman.com]

Take a look at the shape of this Race Track. Looking at this I became more confident that you can do it. These Tracks can be different shapes. As long as your turns are not too sharp you'll be o.k. The injuries to horses most often happen on or because of the turns. I would employ a professional for that part of the design.

The Track architects grade the tracks. A little on the straight aways' and more on the turns. This track has a camber of 6.5% on the turns.

[Robert Fogt]

Wow. I've heard race tracks called ovals all the time. Never knew they really weren't ovals.

But thinking about it now I guess it doesn't make sense to think of them as ovals because there would be no straight-a-ways.

[thesmartfisherman.com]

I new that they were not pure ovals but I did not expect that either. It does make sense. The Horses couldn't handle the constant turns. The injuries would pile up.

Does anyone know where I can get information on designing a horse track