Note also that if we have enough pie we may switch to using it as a plural: 'I am but a tower of pies' or 'Who ate all the pies?' In fact, in your case of 'a point of data', the word is clearly being used as a mass noun, because 'a point of data' is effectively the same thing as 'a datum'. Starting from the Datum Point, measure and draw the outside / boundaries of the scene first walls, doors, windows, parking lots, sidewalks, other natural boundaries Fill in the scene features Furniture, doors, windows, fixtures, etc. If it's a mass noun, then by analogy with the 'pie' example, you would use 'data'.Īnd if it's treated as lots of individual items, each of which is a 'datum', then as with 'peas' or 'kittens' we use the plural: 'data'. Manufactured using CNC machining from heavy-duty aluminium. In surveying, cartography, and land-use planning, two North American Datums are in use for making lateral or 'horizontal' measurements: the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD 27) and the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83). Datums are used in Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing drawings to create a Datum Reference Frame, the reference system for inspecting a manufactured part. A datum is a formal description of the shape of the Earth along with an 'anchor' point for the coordinate system.

This measurement is commonly used to transfer angles to mitre saws but could also be used as a datum point for hand cutting. Datums are derived from datum features and are theoretically exact points, lines, axes, and planes which are simulated by measurement equipment. If you were using a countable noun, however, the analogous phrase uses the plural form of the noun: 'I am but a pile of peas' or '.a basketful of kittens'.Īs you alluded to in your question, 'data' is strictly the plural form of 'datum', but is also often used as a mass noun in its form 'data'. DescriptionThe Faithfull Prestige Mitre Saw Protractor is a modern and accurate way to measure internal and external wall angles. In the phrase 'I am but a piece of pie', pie is being treated as a mass noun, as if it is the name of an uncountable substance - in the same way as '.a pile of sand' or '.a bucket of water'.

Datum point