Question

Designing a Dumpster

For this project we locate a trash dumpster in order to study its shape and construction. We then attempt to determine the dimensions of a container of similar design that minimize construction cost.

First locate a trash dumpster in your area. Carefully study and describe all details of its construction, and determine its volume. Include a sketch of the container.

Answer 1

Consider the following trash dumpster with the dimensions as shown:

$container_size$

The figure is of a 10 yard dumpster. The dumpster can move freely as it is mounted over four wheels at the four bottom corners. The Dumpster is similar to a cuboid and has the following dimensions:

Assume the inner walls and the base of the dumpster to be flat and without irregularities for ease of measurements. Also neglect the thickness of the material and assume that there is negligible difference between the external and internal dimensions of the dumpster. Since, the dumpster is of the shape of a cuboid; all formulae applicable to cuboids are valid.

It is know that, the volume of a cuboid is,

Using the above formula, the volume or the garbage carrying capacity of the dumpster can be calculated.

Hence,