Hey! Can I have some help with this equation?
A box with a square base and no top is to be made from a square piece of cardboard by cutting s = 11 in. squares from each corner and folding up the sides. The box is to hold 704 in3. How big a piece of cardboard is needed?
We start with an x by x sheet of cardboard like this:
then we mark off 11x11 squares to cut out of
the corners, leaving x-22 for the widths of
the four sides to be folded up.
Now lets cut them out:
Draw in the square base:
So the length and the width will both be
(x-22) and the height will be 11. So the
volume will be
V = lwh = (x-22)(x-22)(11) = 11(x-22)²
Now we set this = 704
11(x-22)² = 704
Divide both sides by 11
(x-22)² = 64
Using the square root principle:
x - 22 = 8
x = 30
So we needed a 30x30 piece of cardboard.
Edwin