Work out the volume of a tank, box, or container

The job

Volume questions come up constantly — filling a tank, ordering soil, packing a box, mixing resin. The calculator covers the shapes containers actually come in: box, cylinder, cone, sphere, pyramid, and triangular prism, in mm/cm/m/in/ft.

Measuring a container

Pick the shape and unit, then enter the dimensions. The result shows volume in cubic units and litres, plus the surface area when that matters (paint coverage, liner material).

• Cylinder: radius and height — rainwater tanks, pipes.
• Cone: radius and height — hoppers, piles.
• Pyramid: base sides and height — hoppers with square mouths.
• Triangular prism: three triangle sides and the prism length.

Worked example

A cylindrical tank with radius 40 cm and height 90 cm: π×40²×90 ≈ 452,389 cm³ ≈ 452 litres. Round down a little for the actual fill — the walls, the lid curve, and your fill line all shave off volume.

Where it stops

All formulas are exact geometry. Real containers have wall thickness, rounded corners, and fill gaps — measure the inside dimensions, not the outside, and leave headroom. Dimensions up to 1,000,000 of the chosen unit.