The volume of a cone is 261.8 cm cubed and the height of the cone is 10 cm. What is the approximate radius of the cone? Use the piπ button in your calculations and round to the nearest whole.

1. 10 cm
2. 15 cm
3. 20 cm
4. 5 cm

1 answer

To find the radius of the cone, we can use the formula for the volume of a cone:

\[ V = \frac{1}{3} \pi r^2 h \]

where \( V \) is the volume, \( r \) is the radius, and \( h \) is the height. We know:

  • \( V = 261.8 , \text{cm}^3 \)
  • \( h = 10 , \text{cm} \)

We can rearrange the formula to solve for \( r \):

\[ r^2 = \frac{3V}{\pi h} \]

Substituting the values we have:

\[ r^2 = \frac{3 \times 261.8}{\pi \times 10} \]

Calculating the right side step by step:

  1. Calculate \( 3 \times 261.8 = 785.4 \).
  2. Now, we divide by \( \pi \times 10 \). Using \( \pi \approx 3.14 \):

\[ \pi \times 10 \approx 31.4 \]

  1. Now calculate:

\[ r^2 = \frac{785.4}{31.4} \approx 25.0 \]

  1. Taking the square root to find \( r \):

\[ r \approx \sqrt{25.0} = 5.0 \]

Rounding to the nearest whole number, we find:

\[ r \approx 5 , \text{cm} \]

Thus, the approximate radius of the cone is \( \textbf{5 cm} \). The correct answer is:

4. 5 cm.