# Math Help - Finding an average width of a quadrilateral

1. ## Finding an average width of a quadrilateral

Is there a formula or method of calculating the average width of a quadrilateral? What I mean by this is if you have an irregular four sided shape where all four sides are straight and you designate two of the sides as the "width" boundaries is there a way to get a more accurate determination of average width? What I am trying to determine is an average width for an irregularly shaped parcel of land. obviously the more points you take the more accurate your "average" will be. Thanks[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ROBERT%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG]

2. Having decided which two sides you will use to define the 'width' you also need to decide how to pair the endpoints. I would do this: find the distance from each of the two endpoints on one side to each of the two endpoints on the other side. That will be a total of 4 values. Pair the two that give the shortest distance and then pair the other two. Find the distance between the two points in each pair, and, finally, average those two numbers.