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Homework Statement
How large a surface area in units of square feet will 1 gallon of paint cover if we apply a coat of paint that is 0.1cm thick?
Homework Equations
Since Volume is L * W * H and we can assume the object is square besides the height which in this case will be the thickness. So since Volume = area * thickness then we can say that the area is Volume/Thickness. So:
Surface Area = Volume / Thickness
x ft2 = 1gallon / 0.1 cm
The Attempt at a Solution
First I converted gallons to cubic feet which would give me the volume. There is .264 gallons in a liter, and .0353 cubic feet in a Liter. Therefore:
(1gal)(1L/.264gal)(.0353ft3/1L) = 0.1337ft3
Second I converted .1cm to feet, this was much easier:
(.1cm)(1m/100cm)(3.28ft/1m) = .00328ft
Thirdly I plugged them into the equation for finding Surface Area:
SA = (.1337ft3/.00328ft)
Resulting in:
SA = 40.76ft2
My Question: I feel that I worked this problem correctly but I am not sure and want to be positive that all the steps I followed are correct. My biggest issue is wondering if I can divide cubed feet by ft resulting in square feet. I believe this to be possible for you can do this with variables with exponents power of 3 in the numerator and to the power of 1 in the denominator, but I just want to be sure. If something is wrong I would appreciate any help in guiding me in the right direction. Thanks in advance for any help given, this problem racked my brain for a while until I started to think about what volume truly was in respect to dimensions.