How to find the length of an edge of a pyramid - SAT Math

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Question

If the height of a pyramid was increased by 20% and a side of the square base was decreased 30%, what would happen to the volume of the pyramid?

Answer

First, you will want to create a pyramid with measurements that are easy to calculate. So, let's say that we have pyramid with a base edge of 10 inches and a height of 10 inches.

So the volume of the original pyramid would be equal to

The volume of the altered pyramid would be equal to:

To find the relationship between the volume of the altered pyramid relative to the volume of the original pyramid, divide the altered volume by the original volume.

The new volume is 59% of the original volume, which means there was a 41% decrease in volume.

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