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The fuel tanks on some ships are spheres of which only the

top halves are above deck. If one of these tanks is 186 ft in
diameter, how many gallons of fuel does it hold? Use 1
ft3 ≈ 7.5 gal.

1 Answer

1 vote

Final answer:

To find out how many gallons a 186 ft diameter spherical fuel tank holds, calculate its volume using the sphere volume formula and then convert cubic feet to gallons using the provided conversion factor of 1 ft3 ≈ 7.5 gal.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the number of gallons a spherical fuel tank holds when it is 186 ft in diameter, we first determine its volume. The volume V of a sphere is given by the formula V = (4/3)πr3, where r is the radius of the sphere. Since the diameter is 186 feet, the radius r is 186 / 2 = 93 ft. So, the volume of the sphere is:

V = (4/3)π(93 ft)3

Next, we need to convert cubic feet to gallons using the given conversion: 1 ft3 ≈ 7.5 gal. First, calculate the volume in cubic feet, then multiply by the conversion factor to get the volume in gallons.

The number of gallons g is:

g = volume in ft3 × 7.5 gal/ft3

We can now calculate and find out how many gallons of fuel the tank can hold.

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