Me? I should be going home, but instead, I'm here, pointing out the obvious trolling of someone's tutor.
necromanzer52 said:
Kinarth said:
necromanzer52 said:
My maths homework. Incidentally, if someone knows how the fuck I could cut 4 equal squares out of the corners of a sheet of metal, fold up the sides, and get a box, then a little help would be great.
After you cut out the squares can they be re-used or are they discarded?
If you're just using the leftover metal then I don't think it's possible (assuming it's the expected rectangle shaped sheet)
They're discarded. Also the sheet of metal is 21 x 56. I'm supposed to find the largest possible volume of the box. But this is impossible unless the sheet of metal is a perfect square.
You can't. A box needs a bottom and a lid. That's a tube you've described, which inherently has no volume, as there's no containment.
But, assuming that your description is accurate...
Tube would have a longest side of 51.75, with the ends making a 5.25 square.
5.25 x 51.75 = 271.6875 (area of each side) = xy
5.25 x 51.75 x 5.25 = 1426.359375 (total volume) = xyz
That's also assuming a zero width piece of metal. Now go tell your tutor that the puzzle is impossible without it being 6 sides that need to be cut
