What does a puddle of water 20'x20'x1 deep weigh?

Answer 1

First determine the number of square feet of the puddle. 20' x 20' = 400 square feet. Since the puddle is 1" deep, (I'm assuming the puddle is one inch even though there isn't any indication of whether the numeral one is an inch, or a foot. It's a puddle, after all.), we'll convert the 400 sq. ft. to square inches. 400 sq. ft. X 144 = 57,600 (There are 144 sq. inches in a sq. Foot) This give us the value in cubic inches. Next convert the entire number of cubic inches into cubic feet, it's a nice small number to deal with. There are 1728 cubic inches in a cubic foot so we'll divide the number 57,600 (cu. inches) by 1728 (cu. inches) to give us 33.333 cubic feet. Now multiply the number of cubic feet (33.333) times the weight of a cubic foot of water, which happens to be 62.4 lbs. (Water treatment field study, second edition) 33.333 X 62.4 = 2079.999 lbs. (Rounded off to 2080 lbs.) If the question was for a puddle 1 ft. deep the solution is even easier. Simply multiply the sides to obtain the square footage. Since the puddle is 1 foot deep the area, (square footage), of the puddle will be the same as the cubic volume, or 400 cubic feet. Now multiply that number times the weight of a cubic foot of water. 400 cu. ft. X 62.4 lbs/cu. ft. = 24,960 pounds.