Units of Volumes

#$&*

course PHY 121

1.23.11 at 8:55pmI really struggled with this assignment which will be evident once you view it.

If your solution to stated problem does not match the given solution, you should self-critique per instructions at

http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/dsmith/geninfo/labrynth_created_fall_05/levl1_22/levl2_81/file3_259.htm

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Your solution, attempt at solution. If you are unable to attempt a solution, give a phrase-by-phrase interpretation of the problem along with a statement of what you do or do not understand about it. This response should be given, based on the work you did in completing the assignment, before you look at the given solution.

004. Units of volume measure

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Question: `q001. There are 10 questions and 5 summary questions in this assignment.

How many cubic centimeters of fluid would require to fill a cubic container 10 cm on a side?

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Your solution:

??

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`aThe volume of the container is 10 cm * 10 cm * 10 cm = 1000 cm^3. So it would take 1000 cubic centimeters of fluid to fill the container.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

I did not understand what the question was asking. How do you know the volume is 1000 cubic cm?

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Self-critique Rating:

@& We know this because the volume of a cube is equal to the product of its sides.

The volume of any rectangular solid is the found by multiplying its length by its width by its height.*@

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Question: `q002. How many cubes each 10 cm on a side would it take to build a solid cube one meter on a side?

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Your solution:

There are 100cm in 1 meter.

100cm/10cm cubes=10 cubes

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`aIt takes ten 10 cm cubes laid side by side to make a row 1 meter long or a tower 1 meter high. It should therefore be clear that the large cube could be built using 10 layers, each consisting of 10 rows of 10 small cubes. This would require 10 * 10 * 10 = 1000 of the smaller cubes.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

I get the 10 cubes part but I don’t see how the rest of the answer relates.

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Self-critique Rating:

@& 10 of these cubes placed in a row would not fill a 1-meter cube. The row would be 1 meter long, but it wouldn't be a meter wide or a meter deep. Its would be a meter long, 10 cm wide and 10 cm deep.*@

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Question: `q003. How many square tiles each one meter on each side would it take to cover a square one km on the side?

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Your solution:

1000 meters/km

It would take 1000 tiles to cover the one km side of the square.

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`aIt takes 1000 meters to make a kilometer (km). To cover a square 1 km on a side would take 1000 rows each with 1000 such tiles to cover 1 square km. It therefore would take 1000 * 1000 = 1,000,000 squares each 1 m on a side to cover a square one km on a side.

We can also calculate this formally. Since 1 km = 1000 meters, a square km is (1 km)^2 = (1000 m)^2 = 1,000,000 m^2.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

Each time I can get the first part of the answer but I cannot seem to grasp the last part. I don’t understand where 1mil comes from here?

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Self-critique Rating:

@& 1000 tiles would make a long thin row, 1 km long but only 1 meter wide.

You would need to cover an area 1 km long and 1 km wide.*@

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Question: `q004. How many cubic centimeters are there in a liter?

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Your solution:

1cc=1ml

1000ml=1L

1000cc in 1L

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`aA liter is the volume of a cube 10 cm on a side. Such a cube has volume 10 cm * 10 cm * 10 cm = 1000 cm^3. There are thus 1000 cubic centimeters in a liter.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

I was able to solve this problem from previous knowledge of conversions.

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Self-critique Rating:

@& That's very good. It's very important to be able to do conversions.

However to really understand the conversion you need to visualize how 1000 one-cm cubes fill a 10-cm cube.*@

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Question: `q005. How many liters are there in a cubic meter?

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Your solution:

1L=1000cc

100cc=1cubic meter

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`aA liter is the volume of a cube 10 cm on a side. It would take 10 layers each of 10 rows each of 10 such cubes to fill a cube 1 meter on a side. There are thus 10 * 10 * 10 = 1000 liters in a cubic meter.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

The above is as far as I could get with this. I’m struggling visualizing these problems.

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Self-critique Rating:

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Question: `q006. How many cm^3 are there in a cubic meter?

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Your solution:

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`aThere are 1000 cm^3 in a liter and 1000 liters in a m^3, so there are 1000 * 1000 = 1,000,000 cm^3 in a m^3.

It's important to understand the 'chain' of units in the previous problem, from cm^3 to liters to m^3. However another way to get the desired result is also important:

There are 100 cm in a meter, so 1 m^3 = (1 m)^3 = (100 cm)^3 = 1,000,000 cm^3.

STUDENT COMMENT

It took me a while to decipher this one out, but I finally connected the liters to cm^3 and m^3. I should have calculated it by just converting units, it would have been easier.

INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE

The point isn't just conversion. There are two points to understanding the picture. One is economy of memory: it's easier to remember the picture than the conversion factors, which can easily be confused. The other is conceptual/visual: the picture gives you a deeper understanding of the units.

In the long run it's easier to remember that a liter is a 10-cm cube, and a cubic meter is a 100-cm cube.

Once you get this image in your mind, it's obvious how 10 layers of 10 rows of 10 one-cm cubes forms a liter, and 10 layers of 10 rows of 10 one-liter cubes forms a cubic meter.

Once you understand this, rather than having a meaningless conversion number you have a picture that not only gives you the conversion, but can be used to visualize the meanings of the units and how they are applied to a variety of problems and situations.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

Even after reading your comments, I simply cannot picture these problems. It is very frustrating because I usually pick up on things fairly quickly. I just seem to be hitting a wall. I’ve tried to draw things out and it doesn’t help!

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Self-critique Rating:

@& A row of 100 1-cm cubes will be 1 meter long, but a single such row won't fill a 1-meter cube.

You can cover the bottom of the cube with 100 such rows, and at that point you have a layer 1 meter long, 1 meter wide and 1 cm high.

100 such layers will be required to fill the cube.

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Question: `q007. If a liter of water has a mass of 1 kg the what is the mass of a cubic meter of water?

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Your solution:

X kg 1kg

1m^3 0.001m^3

1000kg

I used a proportion to solve this.

confidence rating #$&*:

@& Very good.

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Given Solution:

Since there are 1000 liters in a cubic meter, the mass of a cubic meter of water will be 1000 kg. This is a little over a ton.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

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Self-critique Rating:

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Question: `q008. What is the mass of a cubic km of water?

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Your solution:

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`aA cubic meter of water has a mass of 1000 kg. A cubic km is (1000 m)^3 = 1,000,000,000 m^3, so a cubic km will have a mass of 1,000,000,000 m^3 * 1000 kg / m^3 = 1,000,000,000,000 kg.

In scientific notation we would say that 1 m^3 has a mass of 10^3 kg, a cubic km is (10^3 m)^3 = 10^9 m^3, so a cubic km has mass (10^9 m^3) * 1000 kg / m^3 = 10^12 kg.

STUDENT QUESTION

I don’t understand why you multiplied the 1,000,000,000 m^3 by 1000 km/m^3. I also don’t understand where the (1000m)^3 came from. I thought I had this problem but it stumped me. It is probably something really simple that I am missing. ???

INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE

A km is 1000 meters, but a cubic km is a cube 1000 meters on a side. It would take 1000 m^3 just to make a single row of 1-m cubes 1000 meters long, and you would hardly have begun constructing a cubic kilometer. You would need 1000 such rows just to cover a 1-km square 1 meter deep, and 1000 equal layers to build a cube 1 km high.

Each layer would require 1000 * 1000 cubic meters, and 1000 layers would require 1000 times this many 1-meter cubes.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

I didn’t know where to begin with this problem. It seems like there was information missing like some unit to measure against. Or do you just automatically know that 1km^3 = 1,000,000,000m^3?

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Self-critique Rating:

@& You should know that 1 km = 1000 m.

Knowing that a km is 1000 meters you can visualize a km^3 as 1000 layers, each of 1000 rows of 1000 cubes.

Or you can say that km ^3 = (1000 m)^3 = 1 000 000 000 m^3.

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Question: `q009. If each of 5 billion people drink two liters of water per day then how long would it take these people to drink a cubic km of water?

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Your solution:

10,000,000,000L/day

Km=1000m

1km^3=1,000,000,000m^3

1000L=1m^3

10,000,000m^3/day they drink

It would take 100 days. 10,000,000m^3 *100 days = 1,000,000,000m^3

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`a5 billion people drinking 2 liters per day would consume 10 billion, or 10,000,000,000, or 10^10 liters per day.

A cubic km is (10^3 m)^3 = 10^9 m^3 and each m^3 is 1000 liters, so a cubic km is 10^9 m^3 * 10^3 liters / m^3 = 10^12 liters, or 1,000,000,000,000 liters.

At 10^10 liters per day the time required to consume a cubic km would be

time to consume 1 km^3 = 10^12 liters / (10^10 liters / day) = 10^2 days, or 100 days.

This calculation could also be written out:

1,000,000,000,000 liters / (10,000,000,000 liters / day) = 100 days.

STUDENT COMMENT

There came to be too many conversions for me to keep in memory all of the conversions about and how they work together, so I

had to write out all of the conversions next to each other and multiply them all out, even if I could have made some

shortcuts, such as the numbers of liters in a cubic meter.

INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE

You can easily visualize a 1-cm cube, a 10-cm cube and a 1-m cube. You should be able to visualize how each is built up from 1000 of the previous. If you understand the model and make it tangible there is no need to memorize anything, and you will have a significant measure of protections against errors with these quantities.

By understanding the meaning of the prefix 'kilo' it is easy enough to then relate these units to the somewhat less tangible cubic kilometer.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

After much reasoning and jotting down notes I was able to figure this one out! Finally, I got one right!

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Self-critique Rating:

@& You're fine with the process of conversions. It's the visualization that's giving you trouble. Hopefully my notes will help clarify the visualization.

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Question: `q010. The radius of the Earth is approximately 6400 kilometers. What is the surface area of the Earth? If the surface of the Earth was covered to a depth of 2 km with water that what would be the approximate volume of all this water?

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Your solution:

V = 4/3 pi r^3

=4/3 pi (6400km)^3

=1.9*10^11 pi km^3

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`aThe surface area would be

A = 4 pi r^2 = 4 pi ( 6400 km)^2 = 510,000,000 km^2.

A flat area of 510,000,000 km^2 covered to a depth of 2 km would indicate a volume of

V = A * h = 510,000,000 km^2 * 2 km = 1,020,000,000 km^3.

However the Earth's surface is curved, not flat. The outside of the 2 km covering of water would have a radius 2 km greater than that of the Earth, and therefore a greater surface area. But a difference of 2 km in 6400 km will change the area by only a fraction of one percent, so the rounded result 1,020,000,000,000 km^3 would still be accurate.

STUDENT COMMENT

I thought that in general pi was always supposed to be expressed as pi when not asked for an approximate value so in the

first part of the problem I didn’t calculate pi. For the second part of the question I assumed approximate meant calculate

pi into the equation which would still be a less precise answer so I did not round any further. ???Should I have estimated

more than I did???

INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE

The given information says 'approximately 6400 km'.

Your result, 163,840,000pi km^2, is perfectly fine.

However most people aren't going to recognize 163,840,000 as 4 times the square of 6400 (unlike a result like 36 pi (easily enough seen as either 6^2 * pi, or 4 * 3^2 * pi)). Since the given information is accurate to only a couple of significant figures, there's no real advantage in the multiple-of-pi expression.

In the given solution the results are generally expressed to 2 significant figures, consistent with the 2 significant figures in the given 6400 km radius.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

I don’t know where to begin with these problems. I start them thinking I’ve done the right thing. I look at what you’ve written and see that I’m pretty far off. Are these concepts coming from the textbook? Where should I focus time so that I can pick this up?

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Self-critique Rating:

@& Ideally you will have picked them up in your prerequisite courses. And in fact you're doing very well with everything but the visualization.

You used the formula for the volume of a sphere. The problem only asks for the volume of a relatively thin shell of water, 2 km thick, on the surface of the Earth. So the volume isn't what you need.

With respect to your calculation of the volume:

You wrote

V = 4/3 pi r^3

=4/3 pi (6400km)^3

=1.9*10^11 pi km^3

You have asserted that 4/3 * (6400 km)^3 = 1.9 * 10^11 km^3.

You haven't broken that calculation down to show how you got that.

However 6400^3 is greater than 2 * 10^11, and you still need to multiply by 4/3.

*@

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Question: `q011. Summary Question 1: How can we visualize the number of cubic centimeters in a liter?

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Your solution:

I know that 1cc=1ml. Knowing that there are 1000ml in 1L I’m able to get the answer right here.

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

Since a liter is a cube 10 cm on a side, we visualize 10 layers each of 10 rows each of 10 one-centimeter cubes, for a total of 1000 1-cm cubes. There are 1000 cubic cm in a liter.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

Even with this explanation I cannot picture this. Do you have an alternative explanation?

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Self-critique Rating:

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Question: `q012. Summary Question 2: How can we visualize the number of liters in a cubic meter?

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Your solution:

A cubic meter is a cube that is one meter wide, tall, etc.

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

Since a liter is a cube 10 cm on a side, we need 10 such cubes to span 1 meter. So we visualize 10 layers each of 10 rows each of 10 ten-centimeter cubes, for a total of 1000 10-cm cubes. Again each 10-cm cube is a liter, so there are 1000 liters in a cubic meter.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

Maybe I sort of understand this? It seems to be building upon one another. I can see that much but I feel like I need to visualize it to understand it.

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Self-critique Rating:

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Question: `q013. Summary Question 3: How can we calculate the number of cubic centimeters in a cubic meter?

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Your solution:

100cm is one meter

100 x 100 x 100 Multiply here for each side to get 1,000,000m^3.

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`aOne way is to know that there are 1000 liters in a cubic meters, and 1000 cubic centimeters in a cubic meter, giving us 1000 * 1000 = 1,000,000 cubic centimeters in a cubic meter. Another is to know that it takes 100 cm to make a meter, so that a cubic meter is (100 cm)^3 = 1,000,000 cm^3.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

Correct via the second explanation.

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Self-critique Rating:

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Question: `q014. Summary Question 4: There are 1000 meters in a kilometer. So why aren't there 1000 cubic meters in a cubic kilometer? Or are there?

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Your solution:

My guess is that there are because they are proportional in both situations.

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`aA cubic kilometer is a cube 1000 meters on a side, which would require 1000 layers each of 1000 rows each of 1000 one-meter cubes to fill. So there are 1000 * 1000 * 1000 = 1,000,000,000 cubic meters in a cubic kilometer.

Alternatively, (1 km)^3 = (10^3 m)^3 = 10^9 m^3, not 1000 m^3.

STUDENT ANSWER to question:

Because a cubic kilometer is cubed. A regular kilometer is not going to contain as much as a cubic kilometer.

INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE

Kilometers and cubic kilometers don't measure the same sort of thing, so they can't be compared at all.

Kilometers measure distance, how far it is between two points.

Cubic kilometers measure volume, how much space there is inside of something (there is space, though not necessarily empty space, inside of any container or any 3-dimensional region, whether it's full of other stuff or not. If it's full of other stuff then we wouldn't say that it's 'empty space' or 'available space', but the amount of space inside is the same either way).

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Self-critique (if necessary):

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Self-critique Rating:

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Question: `q015. Explain how you have organized your knowledge of the principles illustrated by the exercises in this assignment.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

I have taken notes, drawn diagrams, written down conversions. Still not sure of this exercise.

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Self-critique Rating: 0

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Question: `q015. Explain how you have organized your knowledge of the principles illustrated by the exercises in this assignment.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

I have taken notes, drawn diagrams, written down conversions. Still not sure of this exercise.

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Self-critique Rating: 0

#(*!

@& You're actually doing well with this, making an effort to visualize and asking good questions.

See if my notes help. Feel free to ask additional questions.

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