Problema Solution

Grain is falling from a chute onto the ground, forming a conical pile whose diameter is always three times its height. How high is the pile (to the nearest hundredth of a foot) when it contains 1050 ft3 of grain?

Answer provided by our tutors

let 'r' represent the radius of the pile, then its height is '(2r)/3'


volume of a cone:

V = (PI*r^2*h)/3, where 'PI' is the numeric constant approximated by 3.12, 'r' is the radius and 'h' is the height


1050 = (PI*r^2*(2r)/3)

solving for 'r' we have r=7.994


the radius is approximately 8 feet, the diameter 16 feet and the approximate height of the grain pile:

16/3 = 5 1/3


the grain pile is approximately 5 1/3 feet in height = 5.33 feet