Geometry

**emmel** · 12-08-2011, 01:56 PM

A rectangular box has dimensions 6,5 and 4 units.How many small cubes having dimensions 2 units can be placed into the box?

A 8
B 9
C 10
D 12
E 15

**caa5042** · 12-08-2011, 03:02 PM

volume of the box is 6*5*4 = 120
volume of a cube is 2*2*2 = 8
number of cubes that can fit in the box is 120/8 = 15

**emmel** · 12-08-2011, 05:15 PM

I thought so too.
But apparently the answer is 12 !!

**caa5042** · 12-08-2011, 05:46 PM

oh wow...now i see why...this a VERY tricky question
if you think of a box whose length is 6, width is 5 and height is 4, then only six boxes can fit at the bottom, and an additional six on top. You really have to draw the actual box and compare the length and width with the dimensons of the cube to see why 15 wont fit...

where's this problem from? this has me a little nervous

**ANDS** · 12-15-2011, 05:23 PM

It doesn't matter how you draw the box, you know you're not going to be able to completely fill the box since one side is 5 units and an individual cube is 2. Thus the easy approach is to see how many cubes go into each side:
3 go into 6, 2 go into 4 and 2 go into 5. Thus there are 3*2*2=12 total cubes that can go into the box.

**amane** · 12-15-2011, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by emmel

A rectangular box has dimensions 6,5 and 4 units.How many small cubes having dimensions 2 units can be placed into the box?

A 8
B 9
C 10
D 12
E 15

from which book this problem is ?

**Pravin Singi** · 01-18-2012, 11:38 AM

m scared !! tricky question !!

**annabel398** · 02-06-2012, 11:35 PM

This is why you should always DRAW A PICTURE.

If you drew a 4 x 5 rectangle and tried to draw 2x2 rectangles inside it, you would instantly see why this is a trick question.