Volume Calculator
Find the volume (and surface area) of a box, cube, sphere, cylinder or cone.
How it works
Box: lwh · Cube: a³ · Sphere: 4⁄3πr³ · Cylinder: πr²h · Cone: πr²h ÷ 3
Prism-like shapes (box, cylinder) multiply a base area by height. The cone holds exactly one third of the cylinder that contains it, and the sphere follows its own 4⁄3πr³ rule. Surface areas are included because the two get mixed up: volume fills a shape, surface area wraps it.
Worked example
A box 4 units long, 3 wide and 5 tall holds 4 × 3 × 5 = 60 cubic units, with surface area 2 × (12 + 20 + 15) = 94 square units. A cone with radius 4 and height 5 holds π × 16 × 5 ÷ 3 ≈ 83.78 cubic units.
Frequently asked questions
How many gallons is a cubic foot?
One cubic foot holds about 7.48 US gallons, and one cubic meter is 1,000 liters (about 264.2 gallons). Compute the volume first, then convert.
Why is a cone exactly a third of a cylinder?
It’s a classic calculus result: stacking the cone’s shrinking circular slices integrates to exactly ⅓ of the full cylinder. Archimedes proved the matching sphere-cylinder ratio without calculus.
Does doubling every dimension double the volume?
No — volume scales with the cube. Doubling all sides gives 2³ = 8 times the volume (and 4 times the surface area), which is why big tanks are so much roomier than they look.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.