Tower Paper

Chris Conte
Macomb Mathematics Science Technology Center
GAT 9C
Mr. Acre
May 20, 2012

Part One: Introduction

It was my job to make a tower for an eccentric millionaire who just loves shapes. She has
given me a plot of land that is 23 feet by 23 feet, and she wants me to make the tower shaped like
a 14 sided regular polygon. Due to local regulations, the tower that must be built cannot be
within 3 feet of any of the four sides of the 23 feet by 23 feet plot of land. She entrusted me with
the responsibility to maximize the size of the tower without breaking any of the cities rules.
Therefore, I had to maximize a tower with a 14 sided regular polygon base on a plot of land that
is 17 feet by 17 feet. The height of the inner and the outer prisms were both supposed to be
twice of the length of the edge of their bases, while the heights of each pyramid were three times
as long as the edge length of each of their bases. She asked me to find the volume of the inside of
the tower and surface area of the outside of the tower. In addition, I will be finding the volume
for the aquarium that will be located beneath the floor made of Plexiglas of the tower. The
following includes diagrams with measurements, angles, areas, costs, and volumes that I found
for her.

In order to provide her with the most exact calculations possible, the exact numbers will
always be used during the calculation process. However, in this report, all of the values will be
rounded to the nearest hundredths place. Lastly, all of the drawings that were included here were
completed using a scale of cm = 1 foot other than the ones that have been labeled otherwise.

Part 2: My 14 Sided Polygon Maximized on My Plot

A. Base of My Tower Drawing

23 ft.

17 ft.

B. 4 Polygons with Triangles

1. Polygon 1
I

2. Polygon 2

3. Polygon 3
R

4. Polygon 4
V

X
V

C. Central Angle Measure

360/n = Central Angle when n is the number of sides for the polygon
360/14 sides which simplifies to 180/7 and as an exact degree, to approximately 25.71 when
rounded to the nearest hundredths place

D. Side of Each Polygon, Height of Triangle from the Center to the Side of Each Polygon
1. Polygon 1
I

I = the midpoint of the square that was found by finding the intersection of the two diagonals of
the 17 feet by 17 feet square.
IL = Half the length of a side of the square, * 17 = 8.5, so IL = 8.5 feet
Angle KIL = The central angle of the 14 sided polygon which has been found to be 360/14, or
approximately 25.71.
Firstly, we will find the height of this triangle, or IK. This length will be found by using
the cosine of triangle IKL. The cosine function will be applied to angle KIL. So, we come up
with cos12.86 = IK/8.5. Both sides are multiplied by 8.5 in order to isolate IK and the equation
would now be 8.5 * cos12.86 = IK. This equation then comes out to approximately 8.29.
Therefore, the height of the triangle, which is IK, is 8.29 feet.
The next length that must be found in the triangle is JL. However, the length of KL must
be sound before this may be done. Once the length of KL is found, it may be multiplied by two
in order to find the length of JL. The length of KL will be found by applying the sine function to
angle KIL. Therefore, I came up with sin12.86 = KL/8.5.The value of KL was then isolated by
multiplying both sides by 8.5 again and the new equation would be 8.5 * sin12.86. This value
comes out to be approximately 1.89 feet. As previously stated, this value must now be multiplied
by two to find the length of JL. Therefore, 1.89 * 2 = 3.78, so JL is approximately 3.78 feet long.
The next step is finding the area of this entire polygon. This task will be completed by
finding the area of one of the fourteen triangles in the polygon. The area of one of these triangles

will be solved for using the values that were found in the preceding steps. The formula that will
be used is area = * h * b, where b is the length of the base of the triangle and h is the length of
the height of the triangle. In this case, JL is the length of the base and IK is the length of the
height of the triangle. After plugging in the values for those two lengths, the new equation is
A = * 3.78 * 8.29. After calculating this equation, the area of the triangle comes out to be
approximately 15.67 feet squared. Now that the area of one of the fourteen triangles has been
found the area of the outer most polygon may finally be found. The equation for this would be
area = 15.67 * 14. The approximate value after multiplying these two numbers is 219.44.
Therefore, the area of the most outer polygon, or polygon 1, is approximately 219.44 feet
squared.

2. Polygon 2
M

Due to the fact that polygon 2 is also a 14 sided regular polygon it is similar to polygon 1.
Therefore, all the angles that were found in polygon 1 are still the same measure for this
polygon.
Furthermore, as each of the polygons are scaled in by 1 foot from the previous, going
from the base of the polygon to the center, the height must have went down exactly 1 foot in this
polygon and is thus approximately 7.29 feet long. Therefore, the length of MO is approximately
7.29 feet.

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Once again, the area of this 14 sided polygon may be found by finding the area of one of
the fourteen triangles and then multiply the value by fourteen. The only hidden value that must
be found is the length of the base, which is NP. However, the length of OP will have to be found
first and then multiplied by two in order to find the length of NP. The length of OP will be found
by using the equation, tan12.86 = OP/7.29. Next, OP will be isolated by multiplying by both
sides by 7.29 and the new equation would be 7.29 * tan12.86 = OP. After solving this equation,
the value of OP comes out to be approximately 1.66 feet. The next step is to multiply the value of
OP by two. After doing this the length of NP is found to be approximately 3.33 feet.
The next step in this process is to find the area of one of the triangles and then multiply it
by fourteen as there are fourteen of these triangles in this polygon. The formula for finding the
area of one of these triangles is area = * b * h, where b is the length of the base of the triangle
and while h is the length of the height of triangle. In this case, the length of NP will take place of
the length of the base while the length of MO will take place of the length of the height. After
plugging these lengths in the equation looks like area = * 3.33 * 7.29. When this is multiplied
out, the approximate area of one of the fourteen triangles is 12.12 feet squared. The final step in
finding the area of this polygon is to multiply the area of one of the triangles by fourteen. After
multiplying these to values the area of the polygon is found to be approximately 169.67 feet
squared.

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3. Polygon 3
R

Due to the fact that polygon 3 is also a 14 sided regular polygon it is similar to both
polygon 1 and 2. Therefore, all the angles that were found in polygon 1 are still the same
measure for this polygon.
Furthermore, as each of the polygons are scaled in by 1 foot from the previous, going
from the base of the polygon to the center, the height must have went down exactly 1 foot in this
polygon as well and is thus approximately 6.29 feet long. Therefore, the length of RT is
approximately 6.29 feet.
The area of this polygon will also be found using the same method as before. The area of
one of the triangles will be found and then multiplied by fourteen as there are fourteen triangles
in. The only hidden value that must still be found is SU, or the length of the base of the triangle.
However, the length of TU will be found first and then multiplied by two to find the length of
SU. The length of TU will be found by using the equation, tan12.86 = TU/6.29. Next, TU will
be isolated by multiplying both sides of the equation by 6.29 and the new equation would be
6.29 * tan12.86 = TU. After solving this equation the length of TU is found to be approximately
1.44 feet. The next step is to multiply the value of TU by two. After doing this the length of SU
is found to be approximately 2.87 feet.
The next step in this process is to find the area of one of the triangles and then multiply it
by fourteen as there are fourteen of these triangles in this polygon. The formula for finding the

12

area of one of these triangles is area = * b * h, where b is the length of the base of the triangle
and while h is the length of the height of triangle. In this case, the length of SU will take place of
the length of the base while the length of RT will take place of the length of the height. After
plugging these lengths in the equation looks like area = * 2.87 * 6.29. When this is multiplied
out, the approximate area of one of the fourteen triangles is 9.02 feet squared. The final step in
finding the area of this polygon is to multiply the area of one of the triangles by fourteen. After
multiplying these two numbers the area of the polygon is found to be approximately 126.30 feet
squared.

4. Polygon 4
V

Due to the fact that polygon 4 is also a 14 sided regular polygon it is similar to polygons
1, 2, and 3. Therefore, all the angles that were found in polygon 1 are still the same measure for
this polygon.
Furthermore, as each of the polygons are scaled in by 1 foot from the previous, going
from the base of the polygon to the center, the height must have went down exactly 1 foot in this
polygon as well and is thus approximately 5.29 feet long. Therefore, the length of VX is
approximately 5.29 feet.

13

The area of this polygon will also be found using the same method as before. The area of
one of the triangles will be found and then multiplied by fourteen as there are fourteen triangles
in. The only hidden value that must still be found is WY, or the length of the base of the triangle.
However, the length of XY will be found first and then multiplied by two to find the length of
WY. The length of XY will be found by using the equation, tan12.86 = XY/5.29. Next, XY will
be isolated by multiplying both sides of the equation by 5.29 and the new equation would be
5.29 * tan12.86 = XY. After solving this equation the length of XY is found to be approximately
1.21 feet. The next step is to multiply the value of XY by two. After doing this the length of WY
is found to be approximately 2.41 feet.
The next step in this process is to find the area of one of the triangles and then multiply it
by fourteen as there are fourteen of these triangles in this polygon. The formula for finding the
area of one of these triangles is area = * b * h, where b is the length of the base of the triangle
and while h is the length of the height of triangle. In this case, the length of WY will take place
of the length of the base while the length of VX will take place of the length of the height. After
plugging these lengths in the equation looks like area = * 2.41 * 5.29. When this is multiplied
out, the approximate area of one of the fourteen triangles is 6.38 feet squared. The final step in
finding the area of this polygon is to multiply the area of one of the triangles by fourteen. After
multiplying these two numbers the area of the polygon is found to be approximately 89.32 feet
squared.

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Part 3: Volume of the Concrete needed for the Footing, the Plexiglas needed for the floor,
and the water weeded for the aquarium
A. Drawings of Footing, Floor, and Aquarium
1. Footing

The red polygon has a hollowed out interior that is 3.5 feet deep. The footing is simply
the interior of the blue polygon without the hollowed to red polygon. The blue polygon has all of
the same measurements as polygon 1 while the red polygon has all the same measurements as
polygon 4.
2. Floor

15

This shows the floor of the tower. The floor is 4 inches, or approximately .33 feet, deep.
Also, this is the same as the most inner polygon, or polygon 4.
3. Aquarium

This shows the aquarium that is beneath the floor of the tower. The aquariums
base is the same as polygon 4 while it is 3 feet and 2 inches deep.
B. Volume of the Footing
The volume of the footing of the tower is found by subtracting the volume of polygon 4
from the volume of polygon 1. This process works because polygon 4 is 3 feet away from

16

polygon 1 and the footing is supposed to be 3 feet wide. Also, the footing has a depth of 3.5 feet
which makes the height of both of these prisms to be 3.5 feet.
The first step is to take the area of polygon 4 and subtract it from the area of polygon 1.
So plugging in the values that were found for in subsection D of Part 2, the equation looks like
this A = 219.44 89.32, where A is the area of the footing of the tower. After subtracting these,
with the exact values of course, the area of the footing is found to be approximately 131.12 feet
squared. To find the volume of the footing the area that was just found now must be multiplied
by 3.5, the height of the footing. After doing this, the volume of the footing is found to be
approximately 455.42 feet cubed.
C. Volume of the Floor
The volume of the floor may be found in one simple and easy step. This is to multiply the
area of polygon 4 (which is about 89.32) by the thickness of the floor (which is 4 inches, or
about .33 feet). This is because the area of polygon4 is the area of the base and the 4 inches is the
height of the floor. After doing this volume of the floor is found to be approximately 29.77 feet
cubed
D. Volume of the Aquarium
The volume of the aquarium can be found in one of two ways. This explanation, however,
is a lot easier to understand. All you have to do here is to subtract the volume of the floor from
the volume of the footing. The formula would then look like this, V = VFL - VFO, where VFL is the
volume of the floor, and where VFO is the volume of the footing. Thankfully, these two volumes
have already been found in Part 3 subsections B and C. The volume of the footing is 455.42 feet
cubed while the volume of the floor was found to be approximately 29.77 feet squared. The new
volume formula would then look like this, V = 455.42 29.77, this then would come out to

17

approximately 425.65. So, the volume for the entire aquarium would be about 425.65 feet cubed.
However, this aquarium will be filled three quarters of the way up with water. Therefore, the
amount of water that is needed will be found by multiplying the volume of the aquarium by .75.
This aquarium would be VW = VA * . Plugging in all of the values will get you the equation VW
= 425.65 * . After multiplying this out it is determined that the aquarium needs about 319.24
cubic feet of water.
E. Cost Analysis for Concrete
The concrete company has agreed to install the concrete for $115 per cubic yard. Also,
the concrete can only be bought in whole numbers, meaning that a decimal answer must be
rounded up to find how much concrete the tower needs. First off, the exact volume of the footing
must be converted to cubic yard rather than cubic feet. This will be done by dividing the volume
of the footing by 27. The reasoning for this is because there three feet in a yard and that it is in
cubic yards and cubic feet. The volume of the footing in cubic feet was 455.42. This value,
divided by 27, gets you the volume of 16.87 in cubic yards. This number must be rounded up 17
as they only sell concrete in whole numbers. Therefore, the cost of concrete needed for the
footing will be found by multiplying 17 by 115, which is how much each cubic yard costs. After
multiplying these values together, the cost for the concrete in the footing comes out to $1955.
F. Cost Analysis for Plexiglas
The Plexiglas is being sold for $1,100 per 48 by 96, or 4 feet by 8 feet. This sheet
would then have an area of 32 square feet as 4 * 8 = 32. The area of the floor has already been
found to be approximately 89.32 feet squared. So, the equation, for how much Plexiglas is
needed is simply P = AF / 32. The area of the floor has already been found to be approximately
89.32 feet squared. So the equation would then look like P = 89.32 / 32, which comes out to

18

approximately 2.79. Therefore, as the amount has to be rounded up to a whole number, the
amount of Plexiglas that is needed comes out to be 3 sheets. This number of sheets now must be
multiplied by 1100 to find the cost of the needed Plexiglas. So, as 3 * 1100 is equal to 3300, the
cost of the Plexiglas comes out to exactly $3,300.

Part 4: One Lateral Face of the Outer Prism Base

A. Polygon with Side Length that is Base of Outer Prism

Edge length is approximately 3.33 ft

(Rounded to nearest hundredth)

B. Lateral Face of Outer Prism with a Door

3.33 ft

6.65 ft
4ft
2 ft

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Due to the fact that the lateral face was too big for the 3 foot by 5 foot door that you
requested, I decided to scale down the door to a 2 foot by 4 foot door. I apologize for any
possible inconveniences that this smaller door may cause.
C. Lateral Face of Outer Prism with a Window
3.33 ft

6.65 ft

The height of a lateral face is about 6.65 feet and the length of the base is approximately
3.33 feet. This window, like the shape of the towers base is also a 14 sided regular polygon.
D. Explanation of Dimensions on the Lateral Face
Firstly, the length of the base of the lateral face is known because it is simply the edge
length of the outer wall polygon, or polygon 2. Also, the specifications say that the height of the
lateral face is twice the length of the length of the base. Therefore, the equation would be
3.33 * 2 = H, where h is the height of the lateral face. This comes out to, using the exact values
of course, to a height of 6.65 feet.
E. Lateral Surface Area of the Tower
The first step in finding the lateral surface area of the tower is to find the area of one of
the fourteen lateral faces in the tower. All of them are rectangular shaped, so the area may be
found using the formula, A = b * h, where b is the length of the base and where h is the length of
the height. So, plugging the numbers from Part 4 subsection D, the new equation looks like
A = 3.33 * 6.65. After multiplying the exact values of the base and the height, the area of one of
the lateral face comes out to be approximately 22.13 feet squared. Next, this value must be

20

multiplied by 14, and 22.13 * 14 = 309.81.Therefore, the lateral surface area of the tower, not
including the doors and windows, is approximately 309.81 feet squared.
Next, the door and the two windows must be removed from the lateral surface area. We
will begin by subtracting the area of the door from the lateral surface area that we just found.
Firstly, the area of the door must be found before this may happen. As this door is also
rectangular shaped, the area of it may be found in the same way as the lateral faces were. All that
has to be done is multiply it base by its height. The formula would be, A = b * h, where h is the
height of the door while b is the length of the base of the door. The door for this tower has a
height of 4 feet and a base that is 2 feet long. Multiplying these values together finds the area of
the door, which is 8 feet squared.
Next the area of the two and a half windows must be found (the half of a window comes
from the top part of the door). As all of the windows are the same and the half window has a
distance of 3 feet from the top point to the bottom point, all of the polygons have a distance of
1.5 feet from the center point to one of the vertices of the polygon. Therefore, when this 14 sided
polygon is broken up into 14 triangles, the hypotenuse of the triangle will have a length of 1 foot.
Use this picture for reference (it was done on a 3cm = 1ft scale):
A

1 ft

1 ft

Given that the hypotenuse of the isosceles right triangle is 1 foot, and that all of the angle
measures from Part 2 will be the same, the area of these windows may now be solved for. Firstly,

21

the height of the triangle will be found for by using the cosine function. Using the angle measure
found previously that is of the central angle, the equation would like this, cos12.86 = BD / 1.
After isolating BD the equation would not actually change so the length of BD is simply the
value of cos12.86. This value comes out to be approximately .98. Therefore, BD, the height of
the triangle comes out to be .98 feet. Next, the length of DC must be found and then multiplied
by two to find the length of the base of one of the fourteen triangles. The sine function will be
used to find the length of DC. The equation for this will be sin12.86 = DC/1. Yet again, isolating
DC will not actually change anything so the length of DC is simply sin12.86. This value comes
out to be approximately .22. Therefore, the length of DC is found to be approximately .22 feet
long. This value now must be multiplied by two in order to find the length of AC which would be
the length of approximately .45 feet. Next, the area of one of the fourteen triangles must be
found. It will be found by using the equation, A = b * h * , where b is the length of the base,
and where h is the height of the triangle. Plugging in the before found values, the new equation
looks like, A = .45 * .98 * . This comes out to be approximately .22. Therefore, the area of one
of the fourteen triangles comes out to be approximately .22 feet squared. Next, the value must be
multiplied by fourteen for each of the fourteen triangles that made up the polygon. This value
comes out to be approximately 3.04 feet squared. However, there are actually 2.5 windows on
the tower so this value has to be multiplied by 2.5. This equation would look like, A = 3.04 * 2.5,
which comes out to approximately 7.59. Therefore, the area of the two and a half windows
comes out to approximately 7.58 feet squared.
Now that all of the unknowns have been solved for, the lateral surface area of the tower
not including the door and windows may be found. Therefore, the area of the windows and the
door must be subtracted from the area of the tower walls. The area of the windows and the door
may be added up, which would be 7.58 + 8, which comes out to approximately 15.58 feet

22

squared. The equation for this will now be LSA = AW - AWD, where AW is the total area of all
fourteen of the towers wall, and where AWD is the area of all the windows and of the door.
Plugging in the values that were previously found for, the new equation would be
LSA = 309.81 15.58. After solving this out, the lateral surface area of the tower is found to be
approximately 294.22 feet squared.

Part 5: Volume of the Inner Base Prism

A. Polygon with Side length that is Base of Inner Prism

Edge length is approximately 2.87 ft

B. Lateral Face of the Inner Prism

23

6.65 ft

2.87 ft

The height of a lateral face is about 6.65 feet and the length of the base is approximately 2.87
feet. This window, like the shape of the towers base is also a 14 sided regular polygon.

C. Explanation of Dimensions of Lateral Face

The base of the inner prism of the tower is polygon 3. The edge length of polygon 3 has
already found to be approximately 2.87 in Part 2 subsection D. This means that the length of the
lateral faces base is approximately 2.87 feet. The specifications for the tower said that the height
is supposed to be twice the length of the edge of polygon 2. The edge length of polygon 2 was
found to be approximately 3.33 feet. Therefore, this value must be multiplied by two in order to
find the height of this lateral face. This lateral face is thus found to equal approximately 6.65
feet.
D. Volume of Inner Prism
We will find the volume of this inner prism by using the basic formula for the volume of
a prism. This formula is V = A * h, where h is the height of the prism and where A is the area of
the prisms base. The area of the inner prism base has already been found in Part 2 subsection E It
was determined to be approximately 126.30 feet squared. The height of this prism was found in
the previous step, and was to be approximately 6.65 feet. Now these two values will be plugged
back into the volume equation and the volume of the inner base will be found. The new formula

24

will look like V = 126.30 * 6.65, and after multiplying these two numbers the volume of the
inner prism will be determined to be approximately 840.23 feet squared.

Part 6: Pyramid Top of Outer Prism with Height and Slant Height of Lateral Face
A. Drawing of Pyramid Top that shows Height and Slant Height

The dotted line is the height of the outer pyramid. The thick line is the slant height of the
pyramid and the height of one of the lateral faces of the outer pyramid.
B. Explanation of how you know the Height of the Outer Pyramid
The specifications for the tower stated that the height of the outer prism should be three
times the length of the edge of the outer prism. This length has already been found in Part 2
subsection D. This length that was found is approximately 3.33 feet, which is also the side length
of the base of this outer pyramid. This value may be multiplied by three finds that the height of
the outer pyramid of the tower is approximately 9.98 feet.
C. Formulas and Substitutions for Slant Height of Lateral Face

25

slant height
9.98 ft

7.29 ft

This image shows the triangle that will be used to find the slant height of the lateral face
of the outer pyramid. The bold line id the slant height, the dotted line is the height of the
pyramid, and the thin line is the height of one of the fourteen triangles that make up the base of
the pyramid.
Due to the fact the slant height is the hypotenuse of the right triangle, the Pythagorean
Theorem may be used to solve for its length. The equation for the Pythagorean Theorem is
a2 + b2 = c2, where a and b are side lengths of the triangle and c is the hypotenuse of the triangle.
The 9.98 feet comes was found in the previous step and the 7.29 feet was found in Part 2
subsection D. These two numbers may now be plugged back into the previous equation, which
makes it, 7.292 + 9.982 = c2. After squaring both numbers and adding them together, we find that
c2 is approximately 152.68. The next step is to take the square root of both sides of the equation.
After doing this, you find that c = 12.3564 or approximately 12.36 feet.
D. Angle between Base and Pyramid Face
The angle that was made by the pyramids base and the lateral face may be found in one
simple step. As we already know both the height and the base of the right triangle, the cosine
function may be used to determine the measure of the unknown angle. As the tangent function is

26

going to be used, the opposite leg will be divided by the adjacent leg. This equation will look like
cosine-1 (7.29/12.36). When this equation is solved for, the angle is found to measure
approximately 53.86.
Part 7: One Lateral Face of the Outer Pyramid
A. Drawing of a Lateral Face with Measurements Labeled
DB = 12.36 ft
D
Angle ADC = 15.33

12.58 ft

Angles DAB and

DCB = 82.33

12.58 ft

A
B
3.33 ft

The height of this triangle, which is the bold line, was found in Part 6 subsection C. Also
the length of the base of the triangle was found previously in Part 2 subsection D.
B. Angle Measures of a Lateral Face
The following image will be used to make this explanation clearer:

27

12.36 ft

B
1.66 ft

Once again, the height of this triangle was found in Part 6 subsection C. The base of the
triangle was found by taking the length of the base of polygon 2 which was found in Part 2
subsection D and dividing it by two.
This is a right triangle that was formed by drawing down the height of the lateral face and
dividing it in two equal triangles. As we know the length of the two legs, the inverse tangent can
be used to find each of this triangles angle measures. The first angle that will be found is angle
DCB. This will be done by using the inverse tangent. This will look like tan-1 (12.36/1.66). After
solving for this value, the measure of angle DCB was determined to be approximately
82.33.This means that angle DAB from the previous figure is also approximately 82.33. Now
that two angles of a triangle have been found, the last angle may be found by simple subtraction.
This is because the interior angle measures of a triangle always add to 180. Therefore, adding
the two known numbers together and then subtracting the sum of them from 180 will find the last
unknown angle. Adding the two known angles, that are both about 82.33, finds a sum that is
approximately 164.67. Now this will measure will be subtracted from 180.The equation will
look like, measure of ADC = 180 164.67. This comes out to approximately 15.33. Therefore,

28

the measure of ADC is found to be approximately 15.33. Furthermore, we know that these
values are right because they are equal to 180 when added together, which is what the angle
measures of a triangle are supposed to add up to.
C. Area of One Lateral Face
Each lateral face of the outer pyramid is a triangle. The area formula for a triangle is
a = b * h * , where b is the length of the triangles base and where h is the length of its height.
The length of this triangles base was found to be approximately 3.33 feet in Part 2 subsection D.
The height of this triangle was found to be approximately 12.36 feet in Part 6 subsection C.
Therefore, these two values can be multiplied together and then multiplied by to find the area
of one of the fourteen triangles. This would make the equation look like a = 3.33 * 12.36 * ,
and would calculate out to approximately 20.55 feet squared.
D. Lateral Surface Area of Pyramid
As there are fourteen sides to this pyramid, the value found in the preceding step may be
multiplied by 14. This would make the equation for the lateral surface area look like this,

LSA

= 20.55 * 14. This comes out to approximately 287.71 feet squared for the lateral surface area of
the outer pyramid of the tower.
Part 8: Pyramid Top of Inner Pyramid showing Height
A. Drawing of Pyramid Top

29

This is the same drawing as figure (INSERT FIG# FOR PART 6). However, this is the inner
pyramid of the tower. The thin line is the height of the inner pyramid, while the bold line is the
slant height of one of the pyramids lateral faces. The thin line is the height of the triangle that
was used to find the area of polygon 3.

B. Explanation of the Height of the Pyramid

The specifications for the tower stated that the height of the inner pyramid should be
three times the length of its base, which is polygon. This length has already been found in Part 2
subsection D. This length that was found is approximately 2.87 feet, which is also the side length
of the base of the inner pyramid. This value may then be multiplied by three finding that the
height of the inner pyramid of the tower is approximately 8.61 feet.
C. Volume of the Inner Pyramid

30

Now that the height of the inner pyramid has been found, the volume of the inner
pyramid may be found. The formula for the volume of a pyramid is V = A * h * 1/3, where A is
the area of the pyramids base and h is the length of the pyramids height. The area of the base
has already been found in Part 2 subsection E and the height of the pyramid has already been
found in the previous part. The height of the inner pyramid was found to be approximately 8.61
feet. The area of this pyramids base, which is polygon 3, was found to be approximately 126.30
feet squared. These values may now be plugged back into the volume equation which would
make it look like, V = 126.30 * 8.61 * 1/3. After multiplying this out you find that the volume of
the inner pyramid is approximately 362.46 feet cubed.

Part 9: My Tower
A. Drawing of the Outer Tower

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This figure shows the blueprint of the overall outer tower. The dotted lines are the ones that
would not be visible when looking at the tower from this angle.

B. Lateral Surface of the Entire Outer Tower

The lateral surface of the entire outer tower will be found by combining the lateral
surface area that was found for the outer prism and for the outer pyramid. The formula for this
would look like, LSAT = LSAPR + LSAPY, where LSAT is the lateral surface area of the entire
tower, where LSAPR is the lateral surface area of the outer prism, and where LSAPY is the lateral
surface area of the entire outer pyramid. The lateral surface area of the outer prism of the tower

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was found to be approximately 294.22 feet squared in Part 4 subsection E. The lateral surface
area of the outer pyramid was found to be approximately 287.71 feet squared in Part 7 subsection
D. These two values may now be plugged into the equation for the total lateral surface area of the
tower. The new equation would look like LSAT = 294.22 + 287.71. When the exact values of
those two numbers are added together the entire surface area of the outside of the tower is found
to be approximately 581.93 feet squared.
C. Volume of the Inner Tower
The volume of the entire inner tower will be found by combing the volume of the inner
prism and the volume of the outer pyramid. The formula for this would look like, VIT = VIPR +
VIPY, where VIT is the volume of the entire inner tower, where VIPR is the volume of the inner
prism, and where VIPY is the volume of inner pyramid of the tower. The volume of the inner prism
was found to be approximately 840.23 feet cubed in Part 5 subsection D. The volume of the inner
pyramid was found to be approximately 362.46 feet cubed in Part 8 subsection C. These two
values may now be plugged into the equation for the total volume of the inner tower. The new
equation would look like VIT = 840.23 + 362.46. When the exact values of those two numbers are
added together the volume of the inside of the tower is found to be approximately 1202.69 feet
cubed.
Part 10: Conclusion
I found various volumes, areas, side lengths, costs, angles, costs, and constructed various
images and diagrams of the tower that you asked me to build for you. I encountered a few
problems throughout the process of finding all of the values. Firstly, it was extremely hard to
visualize the various parts of the tower and then to actually build it in real life. The diagrams that
I made in geometers sketchpad helped a little bit but did not solve this problem. Also, it was also

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fairly hard to determine which of the four polygons of the tower were which. Also, I initially had
difficulty when deciding if the height of one of the fourteen triangles should have went down by
1 foot per polygon or if the hypotenuse of the triangle should have been moved in by one foot for
every polygon. Thankfully, critical thinking and the use of drawings on geometers sketchpad
helped me solve many of these problems.