PS Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the PS exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 PS Exam Format at a Glance
📚 PS Topics to Study (69)
✍️ Sample PS Questions & Answers
1. A surveyor finds a bearing of N 45°30'00" E in an old deed referencing a local magnetic meridian with a known declination of 5°15' E. The true bearing of that line is:
When magnetic declination is east, true north is west of magnetic north, so add the eastward declination to the magnetic bearing to get the true bearing: 45°30' + 5°15' = 50°45' E.
2. When a contour line crosses a road cut or embankment on a topographic map, the contour typically shows a:
At a road cut or fill embankment, contour lines bend sharply to follow the steep artificial slope face and then resume their natural course beyond the disturbance.
3. A navigable river serves as a boundary between two states. The boundary line is most commonly located at:
For navigable interstate rivers, the boundary is typically the thalweg — the line following the deepest channel or main navigable channel.
4. When a deed calls for a boundary along a non-navigable stream, under common law the boundary is presumed to run:
Under the ad medium filum aquae doctrine, ownership of a non-navigable stream extends to its centerline (thread) from each bank.
5. In traverse computation, the term 'departure' specifically refers to:
Departure is the horizontal east-west component of a traverse course; latitude is the north-south component.
6. A geodetic survey finds a height difference of +2.352 m between two benchmarks using spirit leveling. This is best described as a difference in:
Spirit leveling directly determines orthometric height differences referenced to the geoid (gravity field), not ellipsoidal heights.