Calculating area needed per person for a group dance class

Speaker 1: Hi, Heather.

Speaker 2: Hi.

Speaker 1: So nice to see you.

So I want to show you our new studio.

Shall we go in and take a look?

Speaker 2: Yeah, OK.

I see a lot of potential here.

Speaker 1: Yeah, that's exactly why I asked you here, actually.

You're going to help me figure out how many people we can fit into your class.

Speaker 2: First off, we're going to need to know like, the dimensions.

Speaker 1: Oh yeah yeah. I have the dimensions here.

So the room is 12 metres by 9 and a half metres.

I've been told it can fit 50 people but that's not for exercise.

Speaker 2: Per person is there a certain size or area that they should be using or…

Speaker 1: You're going to have to figure that out yourself because it will really depend on the type of the class, whether it's like a dancing class or a different one.

So I'm going to leave this with you and I'll be back later to see what you've come up with.

Speaker 2: OK, cool.

Speaker 1: See you later!

Speaker 2: (TO AUDIENCE) OK, so I need to figure out how many people I can safely fit into this space for my classes.

First thing I need to work out is the area of the room.

Then I need to work out how much space to allocate to each person.

Speaker: I need to multiply the length of the room by the width of the room, which Cleria told me was 12 metres by 9 and a half metres.

So, 12 multiplied by 9.5 is 114.

So the area of the room is 114 square metres.

Now I need to work out how much space each person needs for a dance class.

My manager isn't aware of an industry standard for this, so I'm going to have to estimate.

I'm going to use my own measurements as a guide, and I know that your arm span is approximately the same as your height, and I'm 1.6 metres.

But some people who attend are much taller than me, so I'm going to have to allow a bit of extra room.

I'll say 2 metres. Each person will need to lie down in my class at some point, so I should use the same measurement again, 2 metres.

So 2 times 2, that's 4 square metres per person, and a total area of 114 square metres.

So I figured out how big the space is and what I think is a reasonable amount of space for each person to exercise in.

Do I just divide 114 by 4?

That comes to 28.5, if we don't mind what shape their 4 square metres of space is.

But each customer needs a square 2 metres by 2 metres.

Speaker 1: So I need to draw out the overall space and see how many 2-by-2-metre squares will fit exactly into it.

So 9 and a half split into 2-metre blocks is 4 with 1 and a half left over.

And the length is 12 divided by 2, which is 6.

And if I multiply 4 by 6, I get 24.

And I need enough room at the top to lead the class.

So the space that's 1 and a half metres wide will be for me. Great.

Speaker 2: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) So have you worked it out?

Speaker 1: I think so. We can fit 24 members in here and that gives them enough room to do their thing.

Speaker 2: That's brilliant. 24 is a good number.

We'd better start promoting the class.