Problem #11








The interior dimensions of a rectangular box with a lid on it are 3 feet by 4 feet by 5 feet. A post in the form of a right circular cylinder 1 foot in diameter just fits diagonally in the box, touching all six inner faces. How long is the post? [A numerical approximation to 5 decimal places will suffice.]

[This can be interpreted as a three-dimensional generalization of last week's problem]




Back to the Archives

Back to the Math Department Homepage.