2. the height of a hay loft is 72 inches. stack the bales of hay shown below to reach the hay loft. how many different ways can you stack the bales of hay so the height of the stack is exactly 72 inches?

There are 3 ways to stack the bales of hay:
1) the bottom is 48 x 16, and the height is 24
2) the bottom is 48 x 24, and the height is 16
3) the bottom is 16 x 24, and the height is 48

We are concerned only with the height. To stack the bales to reach exactly 72 inches, we can see if each of these possible heights divide evenly into 72 with no remainder.

1) 72 / 24 = 3 (possible solution)
2) 72 / 16 = 4.5 (doesn't work)
3) 72 / 48 = 1.5 (doesn't work)

So #1 is the only possible solution