Task of the Week: Block of concrete at Camps Bay

The current “Task of the Week” is about determining the mass of a concrete sculpture in Camps Bay near Cape Town, the capital of South Africa. The special feature of this sculpture is that it is a composite geometric figure whose components are modeled and calculated individually.

Task: Block of concrete at Camps Bay (task number: 1811)

Calculate the mass of this concrete sculpture. 1cm³ weighs about 2.8g. Enter the result in tons!

In order to solve the problem, it is necessary to divide the sculpture into three basic parts: a cuboid and two cylinders. Then, the necessary lengths are measured and the volumes of the bodies are calculated and added. In the last step, the total volume of the sculpture is multiplied with the density of concrete, which leads to the total weight of the sculpture.

This kind of task can easily be transferred to similar objects, whereby the degree of difficulty can be varied according to the composition of the figure. This type of task teaches the geometric view and understanding of composite bodies.