Question

Suppose your order of 37,500 tablecloths requires 300 bolts of fabric. The table cloths are 7 ft x 4 ft finished with a 1 inch sewing seam. The material for the tablecloths comes in bolts of fabric of 60 inches wide and 300 yards in length. What is the amount of waste generated from this process in ft squared? express your answer to 2 decimal points.

Note: Tablecloths are made from one continuous piece of material. There are no seams other than the borders of the tablecloths. 1 yd= 3 ft

Answer 1

Given, bolts of fabric are of 60 inches ,i.e., 5 ft wide and 300 yards ,i.e., 900 ft in length.

And, the table cloths are 7 ft X 4 ft finished with a 1 inch ,i.e., 1/12 ft sewing seam.

Therefore, the area of a bolt of fabric is = (5*900) square ft

= 4500 square ft

For 300 bolts of fabric, the total area is = (300*4500) square ft

= 1350000 square ft

And, the area of a table cloth is = [7+(1/12)]*[4+(1/12)] square ft

= (85/12)*(49/12) square ft

For 37500 table cloths, the total area is = (37500*85*49)/144 square ft

Therefore, the amount of waste generated from this process is = 1350000 - (37500*85*49)/144 square ft

= 265364.5833 square ft

265364.58 square ft [2 decimal places]

Hence, the amount of waste is 265364.58 square ft.