Final answer:
The height of the bag required to hold all the potato chips Americans eat in a year would be approximately 52.78 inches.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the height of the bag required to hold all the potato chips Americans eat in a year, we need some data. Let's assume that the average American consumes 6 bags of potato chips per year, and the standard size of a bag is 9 ounces. Based on this, we can calculate the total weight of potato chips consumed in a year by multiplying the number of bags by the weight of each bag.
6 bags/year * 9 oz/bag = 54 oz/year
Now, let's convert the weight to pounds:
54 oz/year ÷ 16 oz/pound = 3.375 pounds/year
Since we know that the average density of potato chips is about 0.72 g/cm³, we can calculate the volume of the chips:
Volume = mass/density = (3.375 pounds/year * 453.592 g/pound) / (0.72 g/cm³) = 1688.75 cm³/year
To find the height of the bag, we need to know the dimensions of the bag. Let's assume a standard potato chip bag has dimensions of 8 inches in length, 4 inches in width, and 0.5 inches in height. Using the formula for the volume of a rectangular prism, we can calculate the height:
Volume = length * width * height
1688.75 cm³/year = 8 inches * 4 inches * height
height = 1688.75 cm³/year / (8 inches * 4 inches) = 52.78 inches
Therefore, if you were to take all the potato chips Americans eat in a year and scale up a standard sized bag to fit them, the bag would be approximately 52.78 inches tall.