Question

. Suppose you plan to make a box that will hold exactly 40 one-inch cubes. Give the dimensions (ex: 1in x 1in x 40in) of 3 possible boxes you can create to hold all cubes.

Answer 1

The dimensions of the three possible boxes are;

Box 1: 2 inches length by 4 inches width by 5 inches height

Box 2: 2 inches length by 2 inches width by 10 inches height

Box 3: 8 inches length by 1 inch width by 5 inches height

Explanation:

The dimensions of the required box = 40 in³

Therefore, a box that will hold all the cubes will have a dimension given as follows;

Length, l × Width, w × Height, h = 40 in.³

We therefore, look for possible dimensions of l, w, h, however to make is faster, we note that l × w = base area, BA, hence we look for the factors 40 thus;

BA × h ≡ l × w × h

8 × 5 = 40 ≡ 2 × 4 × 5 = 40

4 × 10 = 40 ≡ 2 × 2 × 10 = 40

8 × 5 = 40 ≡ 8 × 1 × 5 = 40

Hence we have our three possible boxes as follows;

Box 1: Length = 2 inches, width = 4 inches and height = 5 inches

Box 2: Length = 2 inches, width = 2 inches and height = 10 inches

Box 3: Length = 8 inches, width = 1 inches and height = 5 inches.