We can have these two types of designs
Part (a):
Bag A:
Volume of bag = area of base * height
Volume of bag = length * width * height
We have:
volume = 96 in³
length = 3 in
width = 4 in
Therefore:
96 = 3 * 4 * height
96 = 12 * height
height of bag A = 8 in
Bag B:
Volume of bag = area of base * height
Volume of bag = length * width * height
We have:
volume = 96 in³
length = 4 in
width = 4 in
Therefore:
96 = 4 * 4 * height
96 = 16 * height
height of bag B = 6 in
Part (b):
To determine the amount of paper needed, we will need to calculate the surface of each bag. Excluding the top base, each bag will have 5 faces. Four side faces (each two opposite are equal) and the base.
Bag A:
Surface area = area of base + 2*area of front face + 2*area of side face
Surface area = (3*4) + 2(8*4) + 2(8*3)
Surface area = 12 + 64 + 48
Surface area of bag A = 124 in²
Bag B:
Surface area = area of base + 2*area of front face + 2*area of side face
Surface area = (4*4) + 2(6*4) + 2(6*4)
Surface area = 16 + 48 + 48
Surface area of bag B = 112 in²
From the above calculations, we can deduce that the theater should choose bag B in order to reduce the amount of paper needed.