Cylinder Volume Calculator

V = pi x r^2 x h. Multiply the radius squared by the height, then by pi (about 3.14159). The pi x r^2 part is the area of the circular base; multiplying by height stacks that disc into a solid cylinder. For a 3 in radius and 10 in height: pi x 9 x 10, or about 282.74 cubic inches. The calculator also accepts diameter (r = d / 2) and circumference (r = C / (2 x pi)) as the cross-section input, so you can solve from whichever measurement you have.

Correct. Volume scales linearly with height, so doubling height doubles volume. Radius is squared, so doubling radius quadruples volume. A cylinder 6 inches tall and 4 inches wide has radius 2 and volume 24 pi cubic inches. One 12 inches tall and 2 inches wide has radius 1 and volume 12 pi, so the wider cylinder holds twice as much.

A standard 12 oz aluminum soda can holds about 21.66 cubic inches (355 mL). A 5-gallon bucket holds 1,155 cubic inches (about 18.9 liters), and a 55-gallon drum holds 12,705 cubic inches (about 208 liters). The calculator compares your result with these references. For example, 347 cubic inches is about 30% of a 5-gallon bucket.

Lateral surface area is the curved side wall only: A_lateral = 2 x pi x r x h. Imagine unrolling the side into a flat rectangle whose width is the circumference (2 x pi x r) and height is h. Total surface area adds both circular ends (2 x pi x r^2) to get A_total = 2 x pi x r^2 + 2 x pi x r x h. Use lateral when you are wrapping a label, applying a vinyl skin, or estimating insulation for the sides only. Use total when you are painting, coating, or sandblasting the whole tank, end caps included.

One US liquid gallon equals exactly 231 cubic inches. The calculator computes volume in cubic inches and divides by 231 for gallons. One US gallon also equals exactly 3.785411784 liters, so the liter result is gallons x 3.785411784. Displayed values can still contain floating-point and input rounding.