Engineering tools are available in the 3D environments and while drawing 2D geometry in profiles, sketches, and in the Draft environment. These tools are located on the Inspect tab on the command ribbon.

You can:

• Measure distance, area, and length using the Measure commands.

  For more information, see Distance and area measurement.

• Use the Area command to:

  • Compute area, perimeter, centroid, and moments of inertia for one or more closed regions.

  • Create a persistent area object with its own set of variables.

  For more information, see Using area in calculations.

• Use the Goal Seek command to:

  • Resolve what-if questions in 2D drawings, profiles, and design sketches.

  • Automate engineering calculations based on dimensioned geometry to achieve a specific design goal.

  • Reference 3D design variables in the Variable Table through the Variable Name property text string. Size values, for example, can be extracted into 2D dimensions in a sketch or into 3D PMI dimensions that control a model.

  • Reference physical properties of parts and assemblies through the Variable Table. You can use mass, volume, or surface area, to solve a design problem.

  For more information, see Using goal seeking in calculations.

You can set the units for measuring distances and areas using the Units tab in the File Properties dialog box. You can open the dialog box using the Application menu→Properties→File Properties command.

You can define the physical properties for models using the Physical Properties dialog box. You can open the dialog box using the Inspect tab→Physical Properties group→Physical Properties command. In an assembly, you can manage properties for the top level assembly and its parts using the Physical Properties Manager command.