"Published in Newark, California, USA"
A gas company erected a new gasholder. The gasholder (top and sides) was given three coats of paint. It took 50 bbl. of paint of 50 gal. each to complete the work. The height of the tank was 160 ft. and the diameter of the base was 218 ft. If the paint cost $1.00 per gallon, what was the cost per square yard of surface?
Solution:
To illustrate the problem, it is better to draw the figure as follows
 |
| Photo by Math Principles in Everyday Life |
The first thing that we need to do is to calculate the total cost of paint used to paint the top and sides of a gasholder as follows
The total area of the gasholder to be painted is
Therefore, the cost per square yard of a paint required to paint a gasholder is
