COMP 208: Computers in Engineering

Winter 2014: Assignment 5

Depth Gauge
Integrity
This assignment is to be done individually. You can collaborate on
understanding the problem but you must write the solution individually.
Your submission might be subject to plagiarism detection software.
Due Date
Assignment 5 is due on Thursday, April 3 at 11:59. Assignments submitted
within the next hour will be accepted but considered late. After that time
they will not be accepted at all.
The Depth Gauge Problem
Liquids are often stored in elliptical storage tanks as shown below.

To measure the volume of liquid in the tank, a depth gauge (measuring

stick) can be used. It is inserted into an opening at the top and the level of
liquid on the gauge can be used to determine the amount of liquid in the
tank.
The tank has width w, height h and length len (all in meters). In the
example output shown below, we take w=8, h=4 and len=7. Your programs
should work for any values of w, h and len, not just these specific values.
The assignment is divided into two parts.
Part 1: (40 marks)
In the first part of the assignment we look at inserting a measuring stick
that is already calibrated in units of 10 centimeters. This measuring gauge
can be inserted into an opening at the top of the tank and used to measure
the depth of the liquid in the tank.
Your task will be to write a C program to produce a table of values showing
the volume of liquid in the tank for each of the points on the gauge.
The output of your program (for the example above) should look like:

Depth 10 cm : Volume 1.188814 cubic meters

Depth 20 cm : Volume 3.336448 cubic meters
Depth 30 cm : Volume 5.992683 cubic meters
. . .
Depth 380 cm : Volume 172.547399 cubic meters
Depth 390 cm : Volume 174.657114 cubic meters
Depth 400 cm : Volume 175.743037 cubic meters

Methodology for Part 1:

If the tank has width W and height H (in centimeters), the focal radii of the
cross section are A = W/2 and B = H/2. Then the equation of the ellipse is:
X2/A2 + Y2/B2 = 1
To find the volume at given depth you should compute the cross-sectional
area of the tank for each given depth using a numerical integration

algorithm such as the trapezoidal method. You must use a general

integration function and apply it to this particular function. Do not
write an integration function that is specific to this problem. Do not
use an analytic solution to integrate the function. Then multiply this by
the length of the tank.
Hint: It is probably easier to imagine the tank on its side so that the depth
gauge is inserted horizontally. If you do this you must express the equation
as a function of y and integrate that function.
Part 2 (60 marks)
The second part of the assignment is a variation on this. In this case the
stick is not calibrated. We would like to calibrate it. Rather than calibrate it
by equidistant markings, we calibrate it to show at what level the tank
contains a certain volume of the liquid.
You are to write a C program that determines where the gauge should be
marked (to the nearest millimeter) corresponding to volumes of 5, 10, 15,
cubic meters (up to the total volume of the tank).
The output of your program (for the example above) should look like:
Volume
Volume
Volume
.
Volume
Volume
Volume

5: Depth 26.54 cm
10: Depth 42.48 cm
15: Depth 56.08 cm
.
.
165: Depth 355.12 cm
170: Depth 370.52 cm
175: Depth 392.03 cm

Methodology for Part 2:

If we view the volume as a function of the position y, this problem reduces
to the problem of finding a root of the equation V(y) = depth, for the various
depths. While the function V(y) is not given by a simple formula, it can be
determined for any y by using the numerical integration as defined in part 1.
Write a program to determine the roots of this equation for each depth by

using a root finding algorithm such as the bisection method. Each function
evaluation will have to be done using an integration algorithm such as the
trapezoidal method.
Requirements
Your code must meet these requirements:

The program must be written in C

Your program can write to the standard output or to a file.
Use sensible variable names.
Comment and indent your code
Submit only the two .c files. Dont submit the .exe (name your source
files A5P1_123456789.c and A5P2_123456789.c where 123456789 is
your ID)

If any of the above requirements is not respected you will lose marks.