My maths != good

[Mumpo]

How do I work out how to distribute a given number of points equally along a line? Say I've got five fence posts to place along a line of 400m, with one at each end and the same space between each - what's the formula for working out what that space should be?

I've got as far as SPACE = DISTANCE/NUMBER OF POSTS but of course that only breaks the distance up into (number of posts) chunks, leaving a post-less space at the end.

So... help.

[Mumpo]

My maths != good

Bah, hang on. I just subtract one post.

Maths, eh.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

My maths != good

space=distance/(number of posts-1) you don't count the first

[Mumpo]

My maths != good

Right, I'm hijacking my own thread. New theme: 'Really easy maths you're no good at'.

[WOM]

My maths != good

You want the measure of the spans, so that's one fewer than the posts. So, 400 m / 4 posts = 100 m spans.

However, with spans like that, you're likely to see a fair bit of sagging.

/heh

[WOM]

My maths != good

Okay, so the five of us are in agreement, then?

[JtS]

My maths != good

Have you taken into account the thickness of the posts?

[WOM]

My maths != good

Not necessary as long as you measure to the same point on each.