How to Find the Volume of a Cylinder
A cylinder has the shape of a typical can of soup, container of uncooked oatmeal or a can of Pringles potato chips. The volume is basically the capacity of this solid object with circular ends. Sometimes it is necessary to determine how many gallons can be held by a cylinder; for example, determining how many gallons of punch can fit in a large pot. Use a straightforward series of steps to make the calculation.
Instructions
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The formula to determine the volume of a cylinder is pi times the radius of the circular end squared -- multiplied by itself -- times the height. 3.14 is the common value to use for pi. The volume is given in cubic units, depending on the measurements used in the calculations.
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Using a ruler or tape measure, measure the radius of the bottom of the cylinder. The radius is the distance from the center of the cylinder's bottom to the edge. Record this value and be sure to label the units; i.e., inches, centimeters or feet.
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Measure the height of the cylinder using the same units of measurement. If you measured the radius in inches, be sure to measure the height in inches. For example, the radius of a pot is 3 inches and the height is 16 inches. To calculate the volume in cubic inches, multiply 3.14 times 3 times 3 times 16. The total is about 452 cubic inches.
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Convert cubic inches to gallons by multiplying by .004329. For the example, multiply 452 by .004329. The result is about 1.96 gallons, so approximately 2 gallons of punch will fit in the pot, filling it to the top. One gallon is equal to 4 quarts, 8 pints or 16 cups, so if other units of measurement are needed, conversions are easy to make.
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If you have a large cylinder, take the measurements in feet. Once you have calculated the cubic feet, multiply the answer by 7.48052. This will convert cubic feet to gallons.
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References
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