TristenGamboa

Mrs.Vee
Math2
Period1
October22,2014

PopcornCylindersAnyone?
1)
Dimension

CylinderA

CylinderB

Height(inches)

11

8.5

CircumferenceofBase
(inches)

8.5

11

Diameter(inches)

2.7

3.5

1.35

1.75

Radius(inches)

Formulastokeepinmind:

H
2 = r

A = r2

C = 2r2 = d

V = r2h

r 2 = d

2) Doyouthinkthetwocylinderswillholdthesameamount?Doyouthinkonewillhold
morethantheother?Whichone?Why?

IpredictthatcylinderBwillholdmorepopcornbecauseityieldsagreatervolume.(Provenin
questionanswer5)Volumetellsushowmuchspaceanobjectcanhold.Italsolookslike
cylinderBhasagreaterbaseareaandstilladecentheightcomparedtocylinderAwhichhas
asmallbaseareaandatallheight.

3) PlacecylinderBonthepaperplatewithcylinderAinsideit.FillcylinderAuntilitis
full.Next,liftcylinderAsothatthepopcornfallsintocylinderb.Describewhat
happened.IscylinderBfull,notfull,oroverflowing?

InoticedthatcylinderBbecameonlypartiallyfullwhenfilledwithcylinderAscontents,
becausecylinderAhaslessvolumeandcouldnotholdmuch.

4)

a. Wasyourpredictioncorrect?Howdoyouknow?

MypredictionwascorrectbecausecylinderBhasagreatervolumethancylinderA.Greater
volumemeansitcanholdmore.

b. Ifyourpredictionwasincorrect,describewhatactuallyhappened.

N/A

5)

a. Statetheformulausedforfindingthevolumeofacylinder.

Weusetheequation r2h = v tofindthevolumeofacylinder.

r = radius
h = height
v = volumeofacylinder
2
r h = v
height/altitudeofthecylinder( h )
areaofthecircularbase( r2 )
Itislikefindingtheareaofthecircularbase,andstackingitmultipletimes(height).

b. CalculatethevolumeofcylinderA.

ThevolumeofcylinderAis 62.95inches3
(1.352) 11 = 20.04 = 62.95inches3

c. CalculatethevolumeofcylinderB.

ThevolumeofcylinderBis 81.74inches3
(1.752) 8.5 = 26.03 = 81.74inches3

d. Explainwhythecylindersdoordonotholdthesameamount.Usetheformulaforthe
volumeofacylindertoguideyourexplanation.

ThecylindersdonotholdthesameamountbecausecylinderBhasagreatervolume.
CylinderBhasagreaterbaseareabutasmallerheight,whilecylinderAhasasmallerbase
andagreaterheight.TheonlywaycylinderAcouldbeequaltocylinderB,maintainingthe
samebaseareaisforittohaveagreaterheight.(Iknowmaximizingvolumesisabout
maximizingthebaseareaandheightgivenwithacertainnetorsurfacearea.Imwondering
whenandhowwewillknowwhenthebaseareaandheightaremaximized.)

6) Whichmeasurementimpactsthevolumemore:radiusortheheight?Workthrough
theexamplebelowtohelpyouanswerthequestion.

a. Assumethatyouhaveacylinderwitharadiusof3inchesandaheightof10inches.
Increasetheradiusby1inchanddeterminethenewvolume.Thenusingtheoriginal
radius,increasetheheightby1inchanddeterminethenewvolume.

Cylinder

Radius

Height

Volume( r2h = v )

Original

10

282.6 units3

IncreasedRadius

10

502.4 units3

IncreasedHeight

11

310.86 units3

b. Whichincreaseddimensionhadalargerimpactonthevolumeofthecylinder?Why
doyouthinkthisistrue?

Ifoundthattheradiushasalargerimpactonthevolumeofacylinder,becauseitgivesthe
cylinderabiggerbasearea,andonceyoumultiplytheheight,allthatextraareaaddsup.
Moreheightaloneisnoteffectiveashavingmorearea.

7) ByhowmuchwouldyouhavetodecreasetheheightofcylinderBtomakethe
volumesofthetwoprismsequal?

(1.752)h = 62.95inches3 h = 6.55inches

CylinderAsvolume
CylinderBsbasearea
8.5 6.55 = 1.95theamounttheheightofcylinderBmustbereducedtobeequaltocylinderA

Ipluggedinthedimensionsofeachcylinderaccordinglyandsimplifiedtogettheheight.The
heightofcylinderBmustbereducedbyapproximately1.95inchesandbecome6.55inches
tall,tohaveanequalvolumewithcylinderA.

8) Compareandcontrastyourresultsfromtheprismactivityandthecylinderactivity.
Whatconclusionscanyoumakeabouttherelationshipbetweendimensions,area,and
volume.

Prism

Base (lw)

Height

Volume

Original

2.752inches

8.5inches

64.28in3

Increasedbase

3.752inches

8.5inches

119.53in3

Increasedheight

2.752inches

9.5 inches

71.84in3

Inoticedthatinbothrectangularprismsandcylindersthebasearea/dimensionsimpactedthe
volumemost.Bothusedthe (l w) asabase,foracylinderitwas ( r2), thecircularformof
(l w) .Imstillnotsureexactlyhowdeterminetheheightandbasenecessarytomaximizea
volume,butIdoknowithadsomethingtodowithhavingagreaterbase.