We have a cylindrical container and want to find how many gallons of hazardous waste it can hold. Let's start by visualizing it.
To find the volume of the container, we use the formula for the volume of a cylinder. Because we are given the diameter, we should rewrite the radius in the formula as half of the diameter before substituting.
The container has a volume of about 2.8 cubic feet. Now, we need to convert this into gallons. Since we know that 1 cubic feet is about 7.5 gallons, we multiply our volume by this conversion factor.
V= 2.8ft^3*7.5 gallons/1 ft^3=21 gallons
The container can hold about 21 gallons of hazardous waste.
Extra
Why do we use cylindrical containers?
We can find cylindrical containers everywhere in our everyday life — from canned goods to barrels and water bottles. The reasons we use them instead of cubic containers might not be immediately obvious, but there are actually several.
The ratio of volume to surface area is better than cubic containers of the same volume. This means that a smaller amount of material is needed to create the container, which results in lower manufacturing costs.
They have a more stable shape against internal pressure of liquids or gas as compared to cubic containers. This means that they are much less likely to crack from internal pressure.
They are easier to hold in your hand than cubic containers, which is relevant in some cases such as water bottles.
