Cylinder Volume Calculator
Enter radius and height to calculate cylinder volume in liters, gallons, cubic feet, or cubic inches instantly.
Cylinder volume calculator — compute volume, lateral and total surface area, base area, and circumference for solid or hollow cylinders using radius or diameter input.
Most cylindrical objects in the real world come with a diameter, not a radius — the outside of a pipe, the top of a tank, the bore of an engine. And most volume results need to land in a specific unit: liters for a water tank, gallons for a fuel drum, cubic centimeters for engine displacement. Enter diameter and height into the cylinder volume calculator above, pick the output unit, and skip the two-step conversion entirely.
Radius vs. Diameter: Which One Do You Have?
The formula uses the radius — half the width across the cylinder. In practice, most real objects are easier to measure across the full diameter: the outside of a pipe, the top of a tank, the bore of an engine. If you measured the diameter, just enter that directly — the calculator converts it. Don’t divide by hand and risk a rounding error before the calculation even starts.
Unit Conversion Reference
The same cylinder, expressed in different output units:
| Output Unit | Example: r = 15 cm, h = 50 cm | Common Use |
|---|---|---|
| Cubic centimeters (cm³) | 35,343 cm³ | Engine displacement, lab equipment |
| Liters | 35.34 L | Water tanks, aquariums, beverage containers |
| US Gallons | 9.33 gal | Storage tanks, pool sizing, US plumbing |
| Cubic inches (in³) | 2,156 in³ | US engineering, engine bore/stroke |
| Cubic feet (ft³) | 1.25 ft³ | HVAC ducts, large tanks, concrete columns |
| Cubic meters (m³) | 0.0353 m³ | Industrial silos, large-scale construction |
Real-World Applications by Industry
| Application | What “Radius” and “Height” Mean | Typical Output Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Water storage tank | Tank radius, tank height | Liters or gallons |
| Pipe capacity | Inner pipe radius, pipe length | Liters or gallons per meter |
| Concrete column | Column radius, column height | Cubic feet or cubic meters |
| Propane/fuel cylinder | Cylinder radius, cylinder height | Liters or gallons |
| Engine cylinder | Bore ÷ 2, stroke length | Cubic centimeters (cc) or liters |
| Grain silo | Silo radius, fill height | Cubic meters or bushels |
| Swimming pool (round) | Pool radius, average depth | Liters or gallons |
Hollow Cylinders: Pipes and Tubes
A hollow cylinder — any pipe, tube, or ring-shaped container — has an outer radius and an inner radius. The volume of material in the wall (or the enclosed empty space) is the outer cylinder volume minus the inner cylinder volume. For pipe capacity, use only the inner radius and the pipe length. For material volume (how much metal is in the pipe wall), calculate both and subtract.
Example: a steel pipe with 5 cm outer radius, 4 cm inner radius, 200 cm long.
- Outer volume: π × 5² × 200 = 15,708 cm³
- Inner volume: π × 4² × 200 = 10,053 cm³
- Steel volume: 15,708 − 10,053 = 5,655 cm³ (~5.66 liters of steel)
- Liquid capacity: 10,053 cm³ (~10.05 liters)
Engine Displacement: Bore, Stroke, and Cylinder Count
Engine displacement is cylinder volume applied directly to mechanical engineering. The bore is the diameter of the engine cylinder; the stroke is the distance the piston travels — equivalent to the height. Single-cylinder displacement = π × (bore/2)² × stroke. Multiply by the number of cylinders for total engine displacement.
| Engine | Bore | Stroke | Cylinders | Total Displacement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small motorcycle | 47 mm | 57 mm | 1 | ~99 cc |
| Mid-size car (4-cyl) | 82 mm | 94 mm | 4 | ~1,988 cc (2.0L) |
| V8 truck engine | 101.6 mm | 88.4 mm | 8 | ~5,740 cc (5.7L) |
Partially Filled Cylinders
A vertical cylinder filled partway is simply a shorter cylinder — use the actual fill height instead of the total height and the result is the volume of liquid inside. A horizontal cylinder lying on its side is more complex: the cross-section exposed to the fill is a circular segment, not a full circle, so the relationship between fill height and volume is nonlinear. The calculator handles both orientations.
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Always the inside diameter. The wall thickness is structure, not storage space. For thin-walled plastic tanks the difference is negligible; for thick concrete or steel tanks, the outside diameter can overstate capacity by 5–15%.
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1 US gallon = 3.785 liters = 231 cubic inches = 0.1337 cubic feet. The calculator outputs directly in gallons — no manual conversion needed.
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Volume is the total geometric space enclosed by the shape. Capacity is how much a container can practically hold, accounting for wall thickness and fill limits. For thin-walled tanks they're nearly equal; for thick concrete cisterns the difference is meaningful.
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Yes — an oblique cylinder has the same volume as a right cylinder with the same base radius and perpendicular height. The tilt changes the slant of the side wall, not the volume. Use the vertical height in the calculator, not the slanted side length.