A movie theatre sells popcorn in two sizes of rectangular prism containers.

The small container has a square base with 10 cm long sides and a height of 18 cm.
The large container has a square base with 12 cm long sides and a height of 21.6 cm.
Determine the factor by which the capacities of the two containers differ.

1 answer

To determine the factor by which the capacities of the two containers differ, we need to find the volume of each container.

The volume of a rectangular prism is calculated by multiplying the length, width, and height of the prism.

For the small container:
Volume = side x side x height
Volume = 10 cm x 10 cm x 18 cm
Volume = 1800 cm³

For the large container:
Volume = side x side x height
Volume = 12 cm x 12 cm x 21.6 cm
Volume = 3110.4 cm³

To find the factor by which the capacities of the two containers differ, we divide the volume of the large container by the volume of the small container:
3110.4 cm³ / 1800 cm³ ≈ 1.728

Therefore, the factor by which the capacities of the two containers differ is approximately 1.728. This means that the large container has a capacity 1.728 times greater than the small container.