Many people (including maths teachers) assume maths has the answer to life the universe and everything. (The answer is 42 - Click here to find out why!).
In particular maths has the answer to "how do i make the most money?". Here is an example.
Drinks companies - Coke, Pepsi, Schweppes etc. - are big business. Their aim is (understandably) to make as much money (profit) as possible.
Therefore - you would think - they would design the cans their drinks come in to be as cheap as possible, to make more money.
To make a can as cheap as possible, you need to use as little metal as possible. This means that for a fixed Volume of 330 ml, you need to reduce the Surface Area to as low a number as possible.
Whilst this sounds complicated, the picture below is the working for this problem, as done in class with Y12 mathematicians.
As you can see, the radius of the can should be 3.74 cm and the height should be 7.48 cm. (NB - the Diameter and the Height are the same, is that coincidence). Compare this to a real can. If the maths says a can should be a certain size why are they not - the company could make more profit (by making cheaper cans).
So - your thoughts please - why do they not make the cans this size? The answer is in work you may do in Tech lessons...
Excess volume (and hence surface area) may be needed for the gases to be inserted, to give the drink bubbles and more taste. I say this because the cans are obviously pressurised, which is why you get a hissing sound when opening a can. I can think of no other reason to have a larger surface area as this extra material is costing the company money.
ReplyDeletei think that they dont do the cans this size because they dont really know how to work the dimensions out. and a can that size would be rather difficult to hold so they are therefore thinking of the customer.
ReplyDeleteBecause the people who make coke cans havent got the brains to figure out such complex maths and 7.48 and 3.74 are really odd numbers. Also they might have thought they dont care about a couple of pence or pound lossage because Coke is such a big brand and so many people buy it that they wont lose any money because the amount of money they make from people buying it will make up for it.
ReplyDeleteIf the can has a larger surface area it gives the impression that the can is bigger and the customer thinks they are getting more of the drink and will pay more than they would for a can with a smaller surface area because they think it contains more liquid. This means the company makes more profit.
ReplyDelete