Help me calculate this

[kcsunshine]

I have a box that's 72" long x 60" wide x 42" high

I then have smaller boxes that are 16 " long x 6" wide x 9" high

How many small boxes can I get into the larger box?

(I have a friend who is going to pick up bees and needs to know how many boxes of bees he can get into his truck bed)

I tried calculating cubic feet and I've come up with about 5 different answers.

 

[abifae]

*giggles* I feel like I'm back in geometry class

I'll have to draw it out. I can't do it by numbers.

But I think you could fit 4 long by 10 wide and 3 stacks of... so 120.

That is not counting any you might be able to turn on it's side and fill in space. That's just...

72/16 is 4... 60/6 is 10... and 42/9 is 3....

 

[kcsunshine]

Thanks Abi. I had to draw it out too. I've since found out that each box has a screen on it so the bees can breathe and they have a bottle of sugar water in with them, so the boxes can't be turned over or stood on end, so they have spacers in between that were not included in the calculation. So, I gave him one of those between this # and that # answers. He'll have to guess which one to take. I'm learning way more about bees than I ever wanted to know.

 

[abifae]

All I know about bees is that they're useful and build hives LOL.

 

[Dunkopf]

How big is the bed of his truck. Most pickups are 48" between the wheel humps and 6-8' long.

 

[kcsunshine]

His is 60" wide, 72" long and 43" high. He didn't calculate for the wheel wells, so I just gave him one of those "you can get x # but you'll have to subtract for your wheel wells. After he got back with me and gave me much more info, I was able to give him a definite answer.

The boxes of bees actually have a screen on both sides (the 16" sides) and they put 4 boxes together with about 1/2" spacer between each box. So that works out to 26" x 16"x 9" package. By taking some of the packages apart, he would have room to slip some individual boxes in the extra space he would have on one side and the back of his truck. That would more than make up for the units he would loose because of the wheel wells.

So thanks for all your help - I think we've got it covered.