Cups A and B are cone shaped and have heights of #28 cm# and #15 cm# and openings with radii of #7 cm# and #3 cm#, respectively. If cup B is full and its contents are poured into cup A, will cup A overflow? If not how high will cup A be filled?

1 Answer
Feb 23, 2016

Cup A won't overflow. The height of the content in cup A:#6*root(3)(10)~=12.927cm#

Explanation:

Finding full volumes of A and B
#> V_A= (S_(baseA)*h_A)/3=(pi*7^2*28)/3=(1372pi)/3 cm^3#
#> V_B=(S_(baseB)*h_B)/3=(pi*3^2*15)/3=45pi" " cm^3#

Since #V_A>V_B#, cup A won't overflow

So #V' (=V_B)#, the partial volume of cup A occupied by the content of cup B, is given by
#>V'=(S_(base"'")*h')/3=(pi(r')^2*h')/3#
But
#>(r')/(h')=r_A/h_A=7/28=1/4# => #r'=(h')/4#
So
#>V'=pi/3*((h')/4)^2*h'=(pi*(h')^3)/48# => #(h')^3=(48V')/pi=(48*45cancel(pi))/cancel(pi)# => #h'=root(3) (3*16*5*9)=3*2root(3)(2*5)=6root(3)10cm~=12.927cm#