Question

Jorge needs to ship a thin metal rod to a metalworking shop. The only boxes available for shipping are 7-inch cubes. To the nearest inch, what is the length of the longest metal rod that can be sent?

11 inches
12 inches
13 inches
14 inches

Answer 1

12 inches would be the longest

Answer 2

The length of the longest metal rod that can be sent is 12 inches.

Explanation:

As given, the only boxes available for shipping are 7-inch cubes. As Jorge needs to ship a thin metal rod to a metalworking shop, he will put the rods diagonally or space diagonally in the box.

The space diagonal of a cube can be found by the formula :

`D=\sqrt{x^(2)+x^(2)+x^(2) }`

=
`√(3) x`

Here, x is 7 inches.

So, Diagonal is =
`√(3) *7`

=
`1.732*7=12.12` inches.

Rounding this to nearest whole number we get 12.

So, the length of the longest metal rod that can be sent is 12 inches.