Volume Calculator
With length 4 ft, width 2 ft, depth 3 ft, volume comes to 24.000 cu ft — volume. It is reached in 4 steps, the last of which is shape_box ? v_box : shape_cube ? v_cube : shape_cylinder ? v_cylinder : shape_sphere ? v_sphere : shape_cone ? v_cone : shape_frustum ? v_frustum : shape_pyramid ? v_pyramid : shape_capsule ? v_capsule : shape_ellipsoid ? v_ellipsoid : v_tube, and each one is printed on the page with its numbers filled in. The formula is the one published by Wolfram MathWorld, not an approximation fitted to it.
Volume of a tank, cube, cylinder, sphere, cone, frustum, pyramid, capsule, ellipsoid or pipe — in cubic feet, US gallons and liters.
Formula and sources checked · How we check
Shape Rectangular tank or box, Length 4 ft, Width 2 ft, Depth 3 ft
24.000 cu ft
Volume for the example below. Editing a field recomputes the calculator below; this figure holds the answer the page was loaded with.
It is written into the HTML rather than drawn by a script, so a search engine reading this page without running JavaScript still finds an answer.
- Volume
24 cu ft- US gallons
24 * 1728 / 231179.532 gal- Liters
24 * 28.316847679.604 L- Cubic yards
24 / 270.889 cu yd
Several at once
A job is rarely one of anything. Work out the first, add it, change the figures and add the next — the list keeps what each line was, and totals them.
Worked example
A tank 4 ft long, 2 ft wide and 3 ft deep holds 24 cubic feet. That is 179.5 US gallons — the figure the question was really about, and one no amount of staring at 24 cubic feet gives you.
How to work it out yourself
- 1.Pick the shape that matches what is in front of you. A propane tank is a capsule, a bucket is a frustum, a length of pipe is a tube.
- 2.Measure inside dimensions for anything that holds liquid. The wall thickness is volume the tank does not have.
- 3.Read the gallons line if you are filling it and the cubic yards line if you are ordering material by the truck.
The formula
- Volume
- US gallons
24 * 1728 / 231 - Liters
24 * 28.316847 - Cubic yards
24 / 27
Source: Wolfram MathWorld — solid geometry, NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C — general tables of units of measurement
Questions people actually ask
- How many gallons are in a cubic foot?
- Exactly 1,728 ÷ 231, which is 7.480519 US gallons. A US gallon is defined as 231 cubic inches and a cubic foot is 1,728 of them, so the conversion is exact rather than measured. The imperial gallon is larger — a cubic foot holds about 6.229 of those — which is why a UK tank capacity does not translate directly.
- What shape is a propane tank or a water heater?
- A capsule: a straight cylindrical section with a hemisphere on each end. Treating it as a plain cylinder undercounts, because the two domes together add a whole sphere of the same diameter. On a 2 ft tank that is about 4.2 cubic feet of extra capacity.
- How do I work out the volume of a bucket or a planter?
- As a frustum — a cone with the top cut off — because the sides slope. Measure across the top, across the bottom and the vertical height, not the slanted side. Using the average of the two diameters in a cylinder formula gets close but always reads low, since the wide end contributes as the square of its radius.
- Should I measure inside or outside?
- Inside, for anything that holds something. For a pipe the two are both needed and both mean something: the inside diameter gives what flows through it, and the difference between the two gives the wall — which is the volume of material, and what the pipe weighs.
- How much water is in my pool?
- A rectangular pool of constant depth is a box; one that slopes from shallow to deep is close enough to a box using the average depth, which is how the trade estimates it. Take the gallons line: chemical dosing is quoted per 10,000 gallons and nobody doses by the cubic foot.
Related
- Tank & Cylinder Volume CalculatorVolume of a cylinder in cubic feet, US gallons and liters — round tanks, pools, culverts and post holes.
- Sphere Volume CalculatorVolume and surface area of a sphere from its diameter, in cubic feet, cubic inches and gallons, with the radius shown as its own step.
- Cone Volume CalculatorVolume of a cone from its diameter and height, in cubic feet, cubic inches and gallons, with the radius and the base area shown separately.
- Cubic Yard CalculatorCubic yards for any footprint and depth, with a waste allowance and the weight of the debris if you are hauling it away.
- Surface Area CalculatorSurface area of a box, cube, cylinder, sphere, cone, pyramid, capsule or ellipsoid, with the lateral area given separately from the ends.
- Density CalculatorDensity from mass and volume, in kilograms per cubic meter, grams per cubic centimeter and pounds per cubic foot, with what floats and what does not.
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