A box of pants and shirts

Subject: VOLUME OF A BOX

Hi -

I need to determine the volume of a box that is 4'HX4'WX4'L. The box contains uniform pants and uniform shirts. I need to know how many shirts and pants are in the box. When folded, the uniform shirt is .5 inches thick. The pants are also .5 inches thick.

If I convert the H/W/L to inches and multiply I come up with 110592 cubic inches. When I divide that by .5 inches I come out with an astronomical number of uniforms, which just isn't possible.

So what's the real answer?

Thanks,

Debbie

Elementary/Middle School

Hi Debbie,

The box is 4 feet or 48 inches high. Each folded shirt or pant are 0.5 inches high. Hence you can stack ⁴⁸/_0.5 = 96 pants or shirts in the box.

Now you need to see how many pants and shirts you can lie in the first layer on the bottom of the box. Multiply this number by 96 to determine how many are in the box.

I hope this helps,
Penny Go to Math Central