Finding the Maximum Volume A carpenter is building an open box with a square base for holding firewood. The box must have a surface area of
8m^(2)
. What dimensions will yield the maximum volume? Solution Draw a diagram. The quantity to be maximized is volume. So write an algebraic model to express the box's volume as a function of one dimension. Let
x
represent the width of the box,
y
the height, and
V
the volume.
volume = length \times width \times height
V=(x)(x)(y)
=x^(2)y