Raphael wants to purchase an exercise ball. The dimensions state that the ball is 20 inches in diameter when at maximum capacity. How much air can the exercise ball hold when pumped to the maximum capacity? Calculate your answer using 3.14 for pi and round to the nearest tenth.

1 answer

To determine how much air the exercise ball can hold when pumped to maximum capacity, we need to calculate the volume of a sphere using the formula:

\[ V = \frac{4}{3} \pi r^3 \]

where \( V \) is the volume, \( \pi \) is approximately 3.14, and \( r \) is the radius of the sphere.

  1. Find the radius: The diameter of the ball is given as 20 inches. The radius \( r \) is half of the diameter:

\[ r = \frac{20}{2} = 10 \text{ inches} \]

  1. Calculate the volume: Plugging the radius into the volume formula:

\[ V = \frac{4}{3} \times 3.14 \times (10)^3 \]

Calculating \( 10^3 \):

\[ 10^3 = 1000 \]

Now substituting that back in:

\[ V = \frac{4}{3} \times 3.14 \times 1000 \]

Calculating \( \frac{4}{3} \times 1000 \):

\[ \frac{4 \times 1000}{3} = \frac{4000}{3} \approx 1333.33 \]

Now, multiply this by \( \pi \) (3.14):

\[ V \approx 1333.33 \times 3.14 \approx 4186.66 \]

  1. Rounding the volume: We round 4186.66 to the nearest tenth:

\[ V \approx 4186.7 \]

Therefore, the amount of air the exercise ball can hold when pumped to maximum capacity is approximately \( \boxed{4186.7} \) cubic inches.