![](\"\/..\/images\/slope_diagram.png\" "\\"slope")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
grade=100%*(rise\/run).<\/p>\n
By itself, rise\/run is called slope<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Therefore,<\/p>\n
grade=100%*slope<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nWhat follows is a distinction that, to me, is important and interesting:\n<\/p>\n
rise\/distance traveled<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
since, of course, you can’t drive along the horizontal course of a hill; rather, you can only drive on its surface.<\/p>\n
At level, grade and (rise\/distance traveled) are both zero. They remain virtually the same even at 20% grade, when (rise\/distance traveled) is 19.6%. As the grade increases, however, they differ dramatically: at 100% grade, (rise\/distance traveled) is 70.7%.<\/p>\n
My interest in the difference between grade and (rise\/distance traveled) is philosophical: why base a value on an indirect measurement (horizontal distance), when a direct measurement (distance traveled) is available?<\/p>\n
In math, we use slope, of course; however, it’s usually in a context where actual measurements aren’t used. Rather, it’s just on paper.<\/p>\n
Source:<\/p>\n
engineeringtoolbox.com<\/a><\/p>\n connect.ubc.ca<\/a><\/p>\n