Question

A rectangular prism has a width of 51 ft and a volume of 144 ft3. Find the volume of a similar prism with a width of 17 ft. Round to the nearest tenth, if necessary.

Answer 1

Answer:

$5.3\ ft^3$

Step-by-step explanation:

Similar shapes with scale factor $k$ have proportional volumes with coefficient $k^3$ i.e.

$\dfrac{V_{large}}{V_{small}}=k^3,$

where

$k=\dfrac{\text{width of large prism}}{\text{width of small prism}}.$

Since

$\text{width of large prism}=51\ ft,\\ \\\text{width of small prism}=17\ ft,$

then

$k=\dfrac{51}{17}=3.$

Hence,

$\dfrac{144}{V_{small}}=3^3\Rightarrow V_{small}=\dfrac{144}{27}=\dfrac{16}{3}=5\dfrac{1}{3}\approx 5.3\ ft^3.$