Question

Josiah is making a candle by pouring melted wax into a mold in the shape of a square pyramid. Each side of the base of the pyramid is 12 in and the height of the pyramid is 14in. To get the wax for the candle, Josiah melts cubes of wax that are each 6 in by 6 in by 6 in. How many of the wax cubes will Josiah need in order to make the candle? Show your work.

Answer 1

13

Explanation:

The volume of the pyramid can be calculated using the formula:

Volume = (1/3) * base area * height

The base area of the pyramid is equal to the area of one of the square sides, which is:

Base area = 12 in * 12 in = 144 in^2

Therefore, the volume of the pyramid is:

Volume = (1/3) * 144 in^2 * 14 in = 2,688 in^3

Each wax cube has a volume of:

Volume of a wax cube = 6 in * 6 in * 6 in = 216 in^3

To find out how many wax cubes Josiah needs, we can divide the volume of the pyramid by the volume of each wax cube:

Number of wax cubes = Volume of pyramid / Volume of each wax cube

Number of wax cubes = 2,688 in^3 / 216 in^3 = 12.4444...

Since we can't use a fraction of a wax cube, Josiah will need to use 13 wax cubes to make the candle.