How to Calculate Area Cleaned by Windshield Wiper
The wiper blades are an essential part of your vehicle, no matter how much you may love your car, it can turn into a piece of scrap if you can't see clearly. For those who are interested in the specifics, however, of how much space a certain windshield wiper can clean, the mathematics involved is actually quite simple.
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Instructions
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1
Measure the length of the wiper blade, from its base to the very tip: for example, one foot.
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2
Measure the angle of the wiper blade's arc. For most wiper blades, this angle will range somewhere from 90 degrees to 120 degrees. For this example, use 120 degrees. Divide this angle by 360, to come up with a fraction: 120/360 = 1/3.
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3
Multiply the length of of the windshield wiper blade by itself (1 ft. x 1 ft. = 1 sq. ft.). Then, multiply this product by pi, or approximately 3.14 (1 sq. ft x 3.14 = 3.14 sq. ft.). This will compute the surface area of a circle, if it had a radius as long as the wiper blade.
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4
Multiply the product from Step 3 by the fraction from Step 2: 3.14 sq. ft. / 3 = ~1.05 sq. ft. This final figure is the total surface area cleared by the wiper blade.
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Tips & Warnings
To measure the angle, a protractor held against the inside of your windshield should suffice.
