How many liters of frosting did they need for this dieter's nightmare?

Question

Barbara's Bigtime Bakery baked the world's largest chocolate cake. The length was 600 cm, the width was 400 cm, and the height was 180 cm. Barbara and her two assistants, Boris and Bernard, applied green peppermint frosting on the four sides and the top. How many liters of frosting did they need for this dieter's nightmare? One liter of green peppermint frosting covers about 1200 cm^2.

Answer 1

First, find the area of each side of the cake being covered (four sides and the top).

 

It may be easier to start by thinking which sides have the same dimensions (same dimensions=same area).

 

Two of the sides will have the same dimensions, 600 cm x 180 cm. The other two sides will have the same dimensions too, 400 cm x 180 cm. 

 

The last dimension to take notice of is the top which have the dimensions 400 cm x 600 cm.

 

With the formula for the area of a rectangle being length*width, the equation would look like this:

 

2(600*180)+2(400*180)+(400*600)= 600,000 cm² (total area being covered by frosting)

 

Now take the frosting's total area it can cover with 1 liter (1200 cm²) and divide it into the total area of cake being covered to see how many liters of frosting it would take to cover the cake completely.

 

600,000/1200=500 liters of frosting