Lorene plans to make several open-topped boxes in which to carry plants. The boxes are made from rectangular sheets of cardboard from which Lorene cuts out 7-in squares from each corner. The length of the original piece of cardboard is 14 in more than the width. If the volume of the box is 3360-in to the power of 3, determine the dimensions of the original piece of cardboard.

1 answer

To solve the problem, let's denote the width of the original piece of cardboard as \( w \) inches. According to the problem, the length of the cardboard is \( w + 14 \) inches.

Since Lorene cuts out 7-inch squares from each corner to make the open-topped boxes, the dimensions of the box after cutting out the corners will be:

  • Length: \( (w + 14) - 2(7) = w + 14 - 14 = w \)
  • Width: \( w - 2(7) = w - 14 \)
  • Height: \( 7 \) inches (the height of the box is the edge of the square cut out)

Given that the volume \( V \) of the box is calculated as follows:

\[ V = \text{length} \times \text{width} \times \text{height} \]

Substituting the calculated dimensions, we have:

\[ V = w \times (w - 14) \times 7 \]

According to the problem, the volume is given as \( 3360 \) cubic inches. Thus, we have:

\[ w \times (w - 14) \times 7 = 3360 \]

Dividing both sides by 7:

\[ w \times (w - 14) = \frac{3360}{7} = 480 \]

This simplifies to:

\[ w(w - 14) = 480 \]

Expanding it gives us:

\[ w^2 - 14w - 480 = 0 \]

Now we will solve this quadratic equation using the quadratic formula:

\[ w = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a} \]

In this equation, \( a = 1 \), \( b = -14 \), and \( c = -480 \):

Calculating the discriminant:

\[ b^2 - 4ac = (-14)^2 - 4 \times 1 \times (-480) = 196 + 1920 = 2116 \]

Finding the square root:

\[ \sqrt{2116} = 46 \]

Now substituting back into the quadratic formula:

\[ w = \frac{14 \pm 46}{2} \]

Calculating the two possible values for \( w \):

  1. \( w = \frac{60}{2} = 30 \)
  2. \( w = \frac{-32}{2} = -16 \) (not feasible since width cannot be negative)

Thus, we have:

\[ w = 30 \]

Now, we can find the length of the original piece of cardboard:

\[ \text{Length} = w + 14 = 30 + 14 = 44 \]

Finally, the dimensions of the original piece of cardboard are:

\[ \text{Width} = 30 \text{ inches}, \quad \text{Length} = 44 \text{ inches} \]

Thus, the dimensions of the original piece of cardboard are:

\[ \boxed{30 \text{ inches} \text{ (width)} \text{ and } 44 \text{ inches} \text{ (length)}} \]