a cereal company is designing containers for a new type of cereal. each container will be shaped like either a rectangular prism or a cylinder and needs to have a volume of cubic inches.

3 inches

Step-by-step explanation:

Given that the volume of the rectangular prism or a cylinder needs to be cubic inches. The container being made is a rectangular prism with a height of inches and length of inches.

A rectangular prism is a polyhedron with six rectangular faces.

Therefore the required width (w) needed to produce a container with a volume of cubic inches is given by:

volume of a rectangular prism = height * width * length

Substituting:

= * * w

258.75 = 11.5 * 7.5 * w

w = 258.75 / (11.5 * 7.5)

w = 3 inches

The required width is 3 inches