Dana helped her dad build a sandbox for her younger sister. The sandbox is shaped like a rectangular prism that is 4 1/2
feet long and 4 feet wide. Dana used bags of sand to fill the sandbox 1/2
of a foot deep. Each bag contained 1/2
of a cubic foot of sand.
How many bags of sand did Dana use?
Write your answer as a whole number, proper fraction, or mixed number.
Dana used a total of 36 bags of sand to fill the sandbox.
To find the volume of the sandbox, we multiply the length, width, and depth:
Volume = length x width x depth
Volume = 4 1/2 ft x 4 ft x 1/2 ft
Volume = 9/2 ft x 4 ft x 1/2 ft
Volume = 18 ft x 2 ft x 1 ft
Volume = 18 cubic feet
Since each bag contains 1/2 of a cubic foot of sand, we divide the total volume by the volume of a bag:
Number of bags = 18 ft / (1/2 ft)
Number of bags = 18 ft x 2 = 36 bags
So, Dana used 36 bags of sand to fill the sandbox.