Question

A slice of pizza is held in a container shaped like a triangular prism. The dimensions of the container are shown in the diagram.
12 in.
7 in.
3 in.
9 in.
What is the volume of the container in cubic

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To calculate the volume of the triangular prism that holds the pizza slice, we need to apply the formula for the volume of a prism:

\[
\text{Volume} = \text{Base Area} \times \text{Height}
\]

**Step 1: Find the area of the triangular base.**

From the dimensions provided, let’s identify the base of the triangle. We have three sides of the triangle with lengths of 12 inches, 7 inches, and 9 inches.

We can use Heron's formula for the area of a triangle, which is given by:

\[
s = \frac{a + b + c}{2}
\]

where \(a\), \(b\), and \(c\) are the lengths of the sides of the triangle.

Calculating the semi-perimeter \(s\):

\[
s = \frac{12 + 7 + 9}{2} = \frac{28}{2} = 14
\]

Now, we apply Heron's formula for the area \(A\):

\[
A = \sqrt{s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)}
\]

Substituting the values:

\[
A = \sqrt{14(14-12)(14-7)(14-9)}
\]

Calculating each term:

\[
s - a = 14 - 12 = 2
\]
\[
s - b = 14 - 7 = 7
\]
\[
s - c = 14 - 9 = 5
\]

Now substitute these back into the area formula:

\[
A = \sqrt{14 \times 2 \times 7 \times 5}
\]

Calculating inside the square root:

\[
A = \sqrt{14 \times 2 = 28}
\]
\[
28 \times 7 = 196
\]
\[
196 \times 5 = 980
\]

Thus,

\[
A = \sqrt{980}
\]

To simplify \(\sqrt{980}\), we find the prime factorization of 980:

\[
980 = 4 \times 245 = 4 \times 5 \times 49 = 4 \times 5 \times 7^2
\]

Thus:

\[
\sqrt{980} = \sqrt{4 \times 5 \times 49} = \sqrt{4} \times \sqrt{5} \times \sqrt{49} = 2 \times 7 \times \sqrt{5} = 14\sqrt{5} \text{ in}^2
\]

**Step 2: Find the volume of the prism.**

Next, we need the height of the prism, which is given as 3 inches.

Finally, we calculate the volume:

\[
\text{Volume} = \text{Base Area} \times \text{Height} = 14\sqrt{5} \times 3 = 42\sqrt{5} \text{ in}^3
\]

Therefore, the volume of the container is:

\[
\boxed{42\sqrt{5}} \text{ cubic inches.}
\]

If a numerical approximation is needed, the approximate value can be calculated using \(\sqrt{5} \approx 2.236\):

\[
42 \times 2.236 \approx 93.192 \text{ cubic inches.}
\]
So you can also denote the volume as approximately \(93.19 \text{ cubic inches.}\)

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