The diameter of a tennis ball is 2 1/2 inches. How many tennis balls will fit in a can 2 1/2 inches in diameter and a foot long?

Question

Geometry word problem

Answer 1

The diameter of the can and the tennis balls are both 2 1/2 inches so the tennis balls stack perfectly on top of each other. To find out how many are stacked in the can look at the length of the can. The length is 1 foot or 12 inches (always convert to same units). How many 2.5 inch balls go into 12 inches?

12 in / 2.5 in = 4.8 balls

 

Round down to 4 tennis balls because only 80% of 5th ball fits in the can.