Picnic Table Question

For the picnic table question we had to find the cheapest way to purchase lumber for a picnic table using the given dimensions.

I first took the top view to find out that I needed 4 7ft 2X12 boards. That works to 2-14ft-2X12's.

I then took the side view to find out how many pieces of what lengths I needed, and came up with 6 3ft lengths, and 2 5.5 ft lengths of 2X4 boards. To find out what lengths of boards I would need to purchase, I made a diagram to find out lengths of boards I would need, and came up with 1 16ft board to accommodate 5 ft lengths, and a 14ft board to accommodate both 5.5 ft lengths, and the last 3 ft length.

I figured out the cost with the cost of miscellaneous hardware and came up with the total price.

The second part of the question was to find out the cheapest way to build 2 picnic tables.

First I got 4-14ft-2X12's for the table top. I then got 2-14ft-2X4's so each one can get 2-5.5ft pieces for the seat supports and 1-3ft piece for the table supports. That leaves 10-3ft pieces still needed, which works nicely to 2-16ft boards with 1 ft waste on each. I then multiplied the boards by the cost of each, and added the miscellaneous cost onto it as well.

That was the question for the portfolio!