engineering

Maclear's Beacon

Maclear's Beacon is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Maclear's Beacon rather than just read about it. In short: Maclear's Beacon is a triangulation station used in Maclear's arc measurement for Earth's circumference determination. The beacon is situated on top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.

Key takeaways

Maclear's Beacon belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Maclear's Beacon to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Maclear's Beacon from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Maclear's Beacon is a triangulation station used in Maclear's arc measurement for Earth's circumference determination. The beacon is situated on top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. It is situated on the Eastern end on the plateau of the mountain, roughly 3 km (1.9 mi) from the Cable Car Station. The beacon is 1,086 metres (3,563 ft) above sea level, 19 metres (62 ft) higher than the upper cable car station. The structure consists of man made rock packed in a triangle form, being 5 metres (16 ft) high. It was painted in lamp black colour to make it visible, when light shown on it. In December 1844, the Astronomer Royal at the Cape, Thomas Maclear, instructed his assistant William Mann to build a beacon in the form of a pile of rocks which would be used to confirm and possibly expand on the existing curvature of the Earth data of Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille. This data was in connection with the Cape arc of the meridian. Initially the beacon had no name but in later years it was named after Maclear. In 1929, the pile of stones collapsed and it was restored in 1979 to commemorate the centenary of Maclear's death. The beacon is still used by cartographers today. It has become a tourist attraction and hiking trails over the mountain pass next to the beacon. It is also a National Monument.

References

External links Media related to Maclear's Beacon at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Maclear's Beacon

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Maclear's Beacon claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Maclear's Beacon before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Maclear's Beacon ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Maclear's Beacon

In research: Maclear's Beacon appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Maclear's Beacon in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Maclear's Beacon is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1844 in South Africa, 19th-century architecture in South Africa, Buildings and structures completed in 1844, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Maclear's Beacon outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Maclear's Beacon in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Maclear's Beacon means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Maclear's Beacon out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Maclear's Beacon in simple terms?

Maclear's Beacon is a triangulation station used in Maclear's arc measurement for Earth's circumference determination. The beacon is situated on top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.

Why does Maclear's Beacon matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Maclear's Beacon?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Maclear's Beacon.