The Objects Spacing Calculator computes the three components of on-center, evenly spaced objects:
On center spacing is used in many applications including:
The on center calculation is fairly easy. However, people typically fail to account for the first object. So, if you want to spread 4 posts (n) out to create a fence 24 feet long (L), you can not spread them out where spread = 24 ft/4. This forgets that the first post is at position zero. You a have to reduce the number of posts by one for the first post. In this case, the calculation would be 24 ft/3 (3 = n-1), which 8 ft separation.