A room requires 850 square feet of ceramic tile. The tile comes in cartons covering 15 square feet each. Adding 8% waste, how many cartons are needed?
Correct Answer
C) 62 cartons
Area with waste: 850 × 1.08 = 918 sq ft. Cartons needed: 918 ÷ 15 = 61.2 cartons. Since you cannot buy partial cartons, round up to 62 cartons to ensure adequate material.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
To find the total cartons needed, first calculate the area with waste: 850 × 1.08 = 918 square feet. Then divide by coverage per carton: 918 ÷ 15 = 61.2 cartons. Since partial cartons cannot be purchased, you must round up to the next whole number, which is 62 cartons. This ensures adequate material to complete the job including the 8% waste allowance.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: 57 cartons
57 cartons would be the result of dividing the original area (850 sq ft) by 15 without adding the 8% waste factor. This calculation ignores the waste allowance entirely, leaving insufficient material for the project.
Option B: 61 cartons
61 cartons represents rounding down from 61.2 cartons instead of rounding up. Since you cannot purchase partial cartons, rounding down would leave you short of material needed to complete the project with proper waste allowance.
Option D: 65 cartons
65 cartons is excessive and represents over-ordering. This might result from calculation errors or adding too much waste factor. While having extra material isn't necessarily harmful, it increases project costs unnecessarily.
Memory Technique
Remember 'WAR': Waste first (multiply by 1.08), Area divided by coverage, Round UP for partial cartons.
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