It is to insure the experiment does not have bias.
Answer:

Step-by-step explanation:
There was no figure but the question is clear
Volume of a cylinder is given by the formula
where r is radius of base of cylinder, h is the height
Volume of a cone is given by 
where r is the radius of base of cone, h is the height
The radius of the cylinder =
(diameter) =
(12) = 6cm
Height of cylinder = 15cm
Volume of cylinder 
Radius of cone =
(radius of cylinder) =
(6) = 3 cm
Height of cone same as height of cylinder = 15cm
Volume of cone, 
Difference is the volume of the remaining solid

(3,-8)
You move down from those coordinates
X stays the same while it just moves down only Y changes
If two similar triangles have side lengths 3cm and 7cm then we can determine that the scale factor for the lengths is: 7/3
Now, we have to work out the area scale factor !
This is simple, since area is given in cm² then all we have to do is square our original scale factor!
So,
7/3² = 49/9
So, we can say that the ratio of the area would be:
x : 49/9x
Hope this helps! <3
2 and 3/4 is a mixed number and the decimal of it is 2.75