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 Question from Prakash: Dear Sirs, I am working in a Soft Landscaping contracting company. If I need to purchase crushed stone with the size 50-70mm for $53,429 m^2$ area, how many 20feet containers should I need to order to my suppliers? The 20foot container has internal dimensions 5,897 mm by 2,348 mm by 2,285 mm and the $53,429 m^2$ area is to be covered by 10 cm of stone.

Hi,

You can use our volume calculator to do most of the work.

Go to the Quandaries and Queries page on Math Central and follow the link to volume calculator. Select the Box-shaped object and enter the dimensions of the 20 foot container, 5,897 mm, 2,348 mm and 2,285 mm. Read off the volume in cubic meters. I got $33.023 \; m^3.$

Go back to the Volume calculator, select the Box-shaped object and use the area of the top and the dept, input the area of $53,429 \; m^2$ and depth of $10$ cm to obtain $5,342 \; m^3$ which is the volume of stone you need.

Thus the number of 20 foot containers you need to order is $\frac{5,342.9}{33.023} = 162.$

You should do this yourself to check on my calculations,

Harley

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