Intro. Physics: scaling problem

Click For Summary
The discussion revolves around a physics homework problem involving the scaling of a model statue. The sculptor's small model requires 2kg of bronze, and the final statue will be five times larger in each dimension, leading to a calculated need of 250kg of bronze. Participants clarify that while the density of bronze is not crucial for the problem, understanding how scaling affects volume and surface area is essential. The volume of the statue increases by a factor of 125 due to the cubic relationship of dimensions, while the surface area increases by a factor of 25. The conversation emphasizes the importance of recognizing these scaling relationships to solve the problem effectively.
Antepolleo
Messages
40
Reaction score
0
I am having dificulty with this homework problem. It doesn't seem to give me enough information. I am asked to find the volume and surface area of an object of unknown volume and shape. Here is the problem:

A sculptor builds a model for a statue of a terrapin to replace Testudo (go UMD!). She discovers that to cast her small scale model she needs 2kg of bronze. When she is done, she finds that she can give it two coats of varnish. the final statue is supposed to be 5 times as large as the model in each dimension. How much bronze will she need? How much varnish should she buy?

I tried tackleing the problem by assuming that the professor wanted me to look up the density of bronze (for which I found many different types of bronze and therefore many different densities possible) in order to calculate the volume.

I used the value that bronze's density was 8000kg/m^3 and calcluated that the final sculpture would need 250kg of bronze. Now I am unsure of how to figure out the surface area of the sculpture with what I know. Can someone give me some insight?

Hopefully my way of tackleing the volume portion of the problem was correct.

Thanks
 
Physics news on Phys.org
The density of bronze is not important!

The height, width and depth of the statue will be 5 times greater.

The volume of the statue will be ___ times greater.

The surface are of the statue will be ___ time greater.
 
If the height, width, and depth are all 5 times greater than I know that the volume would be 125 times greater but how do I relate that to the surface area?
 
The surface area of a cube whise edges have a length of 'l' is 6l^2.

The surface area of a sphere whose radius is r is 4pi*r^2.

The surface area of a cyclinder whose radius is r and height is h is: 2pi*r^2 + 2pi*r*h

What does increasing all their dimensions by 5 do to their surface area?
 
Thread 'Correct statement about size of wire to produce larger extension'
The answer is (B) but I don't really understand why. Based on formula of Young Modulus: $$x=\frac{FL}{AE}$$ The second wire made of the same material so it means they have same Young Modulus. Larger extension means larger value of ##x## so to get larger value of ##x## we can increase ##F## and ##L## and decrease ##A## I am not sure whether there is change in ##F## for first and second wire so I will just assume ##F## does not change. It leaves (B) and (C) as possible options so why is (C)...

Similar threads

  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K
Replies
1
Views
11K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
2K
Replies
2
Views
1K
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
721
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
Replies
1
Views
4K