Horizontal angles are measured using which instrument?

Horizontal angles are measured using which instrument?

• A. Builder's level
• B. Transit
• C. Tape measure
• D. Theodolite

Answer: (A)

Horizontal angles are measured with a theodolite because it is built to measure angles in the horizontal plane with a precision telescope and a graduated horizontal circle. You sight along one direction, read the horizontal angle, then sight along the second direction and read the new angle; the instrument’s readings give you the angle between those two lines of sight. A transit is a similar instrument and serves the same purpose, often considered a type of theodolite used in field surveying. A builder’s level, by contrast, is used to establish a level reference line and determine height differences, not angles. A tape measure only measures distance. So, the instrument best suited for horizontal angles is the theodolite (with transit as a related option).

Horizontal angles are measured with a theodolite because it is built to measure angles in the horizontal plane with a precision telescope and a graduated horizontal circle. You sight along one direction, read the horizontal angle, then sight along the second direction and read the new angle; the instrument’s readings give you the angle between those two lines of sight. A transit is a similar instrument and serves the same purpose, often considered a type of theodolite used in field surveying. A builder’s level, by contrast, is used to establish a level reference line and determine height differences, not angles. A tape measure only measures distance. So, the instrument best suited for horizontal angles is the theodolite (with transit as a related option).