Hello, orochimaru700!
1) Find the waste in making the largest possible cylindrical rod
from a bar of iron 3ft long which has a cross section whose diagonal is 6 inches. I will assume that the bar has a square cross-section. Code:
*-----------*
| * |
| 6 * |
| * | x
| * |
| * |
*-----------*
x The diagonal is 6 inches.
We have: . 
The side of the square is: .
inches.
The volume of the bar is: . (3\sqrt{2})(36) \:=\:648\text{ in}^3)
Code:
_
: - - - 3√2 - - - :
*-------*-*-*-------*
| * * |
| * * |
|* *|
| |
* *
* * - - - - *
* r *
| |
|* *|
| * * |
| * * |
*-------*-*-*-------*
: - r - :
We see that the radius of the cylinder is half the side of the square:
. . 
The volume of the cylinder is: . ^2(36) \:=\:162\pi\text{ in}^2)
The waste is: . 