Question

A truck whose bed is 8.5 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 3.5 feet high is delivering sand for a sand sculpture competition. How many trips must the truck make to deliver 400 cubic feet of sand?

Answer 1

The truck will need to make 3 trips.

Explanation:

First, we need to find the volume that the truck can carry. Using the dimensions of the truck and the volume formula, we have:

`V=lwh\\V=8.5*5*3.5\\V=148.75\text{ ft}^3`

Since we need to move a total of 400 cubic feet, we will divide that amount by the truckload capacity (volume).

`400 / 148.75 \approx 2.689`

In context, he will need to take three truck loads: two loads will be full, and the third will not be full.