Question

A rectangular sludge bed measuring 80 ft by 110 ft is filled to a depth of 2 ft. If a truck with a capacity of 3 cu yd is used to

haul away the sludge, how many trips must the truck make to empty the sludge bed?

Answer 1

Therefore, the truck must make 218 trips to empty the sludge bed.

Explanation:

First, we need to find the volume of the sludge bed in cubic yards, since that is the unit of measure for the truck's capacity.

The area of the sludge bed is:

80 ft x 110 ft = 8,800 sq ft

Multiplying by the depth, we get:

8,800 sq ft x 2 ft = 17,600 cubic feet

To convert cubic feet to cubic yards, we divide by 27:

17,600 cu ft ÷ 27 = 651.85 cu yd (rounded to two decimal places)

Therefore, the truck needs to make:

651.85 cu yd ÷ 3 cu yd/trip = 217.28 trips

We can't make a fraction of a trip, so we need to round up to the nearest whole number.

Therefore, the truck must make 218 trips to empty the sludge bed.