# 10.7.1 Volume Formulas

You can also use a formula to work out the volume of some of the more common solids. These are shown in the boxes below.

## Volume Formulas

### Volume of a rectangular box:

 length multiplication width multiplication height

### Volume of a cylinder:

 area of base multiplication height equals pi multiplication open radius close squared postfix multiplication height

### Volume of a prism:

 area of base multiplication height

### Volume of a sphere:

 four divided by three postfix multiplication pi prefix multiplication of left parenthesis radius right parenthesis super three

## Activity: A Gasoline Tanker

(a) The container on a gasoline tanker is approximately cylindrical with an internal diameter of about 2.25 m and an internal length of 10 m. Roughly how many liters of gasoline could it contain?

### Comment

Remember that .

(a) If the diameter is 2.25 m, the radius = . The length is 10 m.

Substituting these values into the formula for the volume of a cylinder:

Rounding to the nearest cubic meter, the volume is .

Since there are 1,000 liters in , if the tanker is full, it will hold approximately 40,000 liters.

(b) The gasoline depot has an underground tank that measures 2.5 m by 4 m by 3 m. If the tank is empty, will it hold all the gasoline in the tanker?