Question

You measure a suitcase to be 13 inches wide, 2 feet long, and 5.5 inches thick.What is the volume of the suitcase? (Hint: Be sure to convert all the dimensions to feet first and thenkeep any fractions in fraction form when plugging them into the formula.)ft3

Answer 1

The suitcase is in the form of a rectangular prism.

The volume of a rectangular prism is given by the formula:

$V=\text{wld}$

Where

V is the volume, w is the width, l is the length, d is the depth

We want the volume in cubic feet, so let's convert all the measurements in feet.

Remember,

1 feet = 12 inches

So,

Width

$13in\times\frac{1ft}{12in}=\frac{13}{12}ft$

Length

2 feet

Depth

$5.5in\times\frac{1ft}{12in}=\frac{5.5}{12}ft$

Now, let's find the volume:

$\begin{gathered} V=(\frac{13}{12})(2)(\frac{5.5}{12}) \\ V=\frac{143}{144}ft^3 \end{gathered}$

Answer:

$\text{Volume}=\frac{143}{144}ft^3$

In decimal, we divide 143 by 144, to get: 0.9931 cubic feet