Potato Density

For their first lab, Maya decides to measure the density of a potato. They notice that it’s an unusual shape and floats, so it’s hard to calculate its volume. The potato’s mass is measured to be \(g\). They then cut the potato into a cube and measure that the sides of the cube have length 4 inches, and the potato’s mass is \(g\). For a uniform density potato, the mass and volume are proportional.

(Useful conversions: 1 \(\textrm{inch}\) = 2.54 \(cm\), 1 \(cm\) = \(10^{-2}\) \(m\), 1 \(g\) = \(10^{-3}\) \(kg\)).

Part 1

In SI units what is the potato’s mass (\(m_p\))?

Answer Section

Please enter in a numeric value in \(kg\).

Part 2

In SI units what is the cube of potato’s mass (\(m\_{cp}\))?

Answer Section

Please enter in a numeric value in \(kg\).

Part 3

In SI units, what is the volume of the cube of potato after it has been cut?

Answer Section

Please enter in a numeric value in \(m^3\).

Part 4

In SI units, what is the volume of the original potato?

(Hint: use proportional reasoning!)

Answer Section

Please enter in a numeric value in \(m^3\).

Attribution

Problem is licensed under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.