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Bunuel
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The measurements obtained for the interior dimensions of a rectangular box are 200 cm by 200 cm by 300cm. If each of the three measurements has an error of at most 1 centimeter, which of the following is the closes maximum possible difference, in cubic centimeters, between the actual capacity of the box and the capacity computed using these measurements?

A. 100,000
B. 120,000
C. 160,000
D. 200,000
E. 320,000

The options are well spread so we can approximate.

Changing the length by 1 cm results in change of the volume by 1*200*300 = 60,000 cubic centimeters;
Changing the width by 1 cm results in change of the volume by 200*1*300 = 60,000 cubic centimeters;
Changing the height by 1 cm results in change of the volume by 200*200*1 = 40,000 cubic centimeters.

So, approximate maximum possible difference is 60,000 + 60,000 + 40,000 = 160,000 cubic centimeters.

Answer: C.

Hi Bunuel KarishmaB IanStewart

The above method is very good but I do have a question

Isn't the above method too risky though ?

Because the above method is NOT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the following bits of the multiplicative equation:

A(1) + B(1) + C(1) + (1)(1)(1)

Here is what I mean :

When you do : (a+1) (b+1) (c+1) - a.b.c

You are left with
ab + bc + ac + A(1) + B(1) + C(1) + (1)(1)(1)

Bunuels method above - only took into account : ab + bc + ac and drops the blue

Now I agree that (200)(1) + (200)(1) + (300)(1) + (1)(1)(1) is miniscule but how do you know that PRIOR to solving the problem ?

Specifically if the ERROR was says 50 cms instead of 1 cms - the above methodology would not work per my understanding because the following will be dropped :

(200)(50) + (200)(50) + (300)(50) + (50)(50)(50) or 160,000 will be forgotten

thoughts ?
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jabhatta2
Bunuel
imhimanshu
The measurements obtained for the interior dimensions of a rectangular box are 200 cm by 200 cm by 300cm. If each of the three measurements has an error of at most 1 centimeter, which of the following is the closes maximum possible difference, in cubic centimeters, between the actual capacity of the box and the capacity computed using these measurements?

A. 100,000
B. 120,000
C. 160,000
D. 200,000
E. 320,000

The options are well spread so we can approximate.

Changing the length by 1 cm results in change of the volume by 1*200*300 = 60,000 cubic centimeters;
Changing the width by 1 cm results in change of the volume by 200*1*300 = 60,000 cubic centimeters;
Changing the height by 1 cm results in change of the volume by 200*200*1 = 40,000 cubic centimeters.

So, approximate maximum possible difference is 60,000 + 60,000 + 40,000 = 160,000 cubic centimeters.

Answer: C.

Hi Bunuel KarishmaB IanStewart

The above method is very good but I do have a question

Isn't the above method too risky though ?

Because the above method is NOT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the following bits of the multiplicative equation:

A(1) + B(1) + C(1) + (1)(1)(1)

Here is what I mean :

When you do : (a+1) (b+1) (c+1) - a.b.c

You are left with
ab + bc + ac + A(1) + B(1) + C(1) + (1)(1)(1)

Bunuels method above - only took into account : ab + bc + ac and drops the blue

Now I agree that (200)(1) + (200)(1) + (300)(1) + (1)(1)(1) is miniscule but how do you know that PRIOR to solving the problem ?

Specifically if the ERROR was says 50 cms instead of 1 cms - the above methodology would not work per my understanding because the following will be dropped :

(200)(50) + (200)(50) + (300)(50) + (50)(50)(50) or 160,000 will be forgotten

thoughts ?

The approximation works only when the percentage change is very small. The question asks for the "closest" value. The answer options are at least 20k apart.
The percentage change is 0.5%. When we multiply two of these, it becomes .0025% which is much much smaller. It can certainly not add up to about 25% of 160,000. So there is no risk of missing the correct option.
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imhimanshu
The measurements obtained for the interior dimensions of a rectangular box are 200 cm by 200 cm by 300cm. If each of the three measurements has an error of at most 1 centimeter, which of the following is the closest maximum possible difference, in cubic centimeters, between the actual capacity of the box and the capacity computed using these measurements?

A. 100,000
B. 120,000
C. 160,000
D. 200,000
E. 320,000

The maximum difference in volume will occur when the dimensions are all greater than the base values or all dimensions are smaller than the base values (the percentage is slightly higher in the former).
However, we don’t want an exact calculation and only approximate the result.
Let us look at the percent changes:
200 to 201 is approx. 0.5% increase and 300 to 301 is approx. 0.33% increase
Thus, there are 3 changes: 0.5%, 0.5% and 0.33%
The net effect of the first two would ideally be (0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 * 0.5/100) %, but we can simply approximate it to 0.5 + 0.5 = 1% increase
The net effect of this 1% and 0.33% would similarly be approx. 1.33%

Thus, the increased volume would be 1.33% greater than the original volume, which is 200 * 200 * 300 = 12 * 106
Thus, the increase = 1.33% of 12 * 106 = (4/3 ÷ 100) * 12 * 106 = 160000 (approx.)

The best answer, thus, is Option C.
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Is this question relavant for Focus edition ?
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akhilachitte
Is this question relavant for Focus edition ?

I'd say yes, because this question doesn't require any hardcore geometry knowledge to solve.
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