Estimate the number of pennies that would fit in a box one foot across by one foot wide by one foot tall. A) 5 × 10² B) 5 × 10³ C) 5 × 10⁴ D) 5 × 10⁵ E) 5 × 10⁶

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

One foot is equivalent to 12 inches, so the box has a volume of 12 x 12 x 12 = 1,728 cubic inches. Since a penny has a thickness of approximately 0.06 inches, we can stack them 1/0.06 = 16.666... pennies high in one inch. Therefore, the box can hold 1,728 x 16.666... = 28,800 pennies. Multiplying this by 5 gives us 144,000 pennies, which is equivalent to 5 × 10^14. Therefore, the answer is C.

Estimate the Number of Pennies That Would Fit in a Box