The volume of a pipe - Math Central

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Question from kalen, a student:

Okay I am doing a problem on a practice sheet to study with and I need help. The question states:
How many gallons will 500 feet of six-inch water pipe hold?
Do you have any suggestions/breakdowns on how to work out this problem so that in the future
I will know how to do it?

Kalen,

I know there are 231 cubic inches in a gallon so I would find the volume of the pipe in cubic inches. I thing by a 6 inch pipe you mean an inside diameter of 6 inches so the pipe has radius 3 inches and length 500 × 12 = 6000 inches. The volume of a cylinder is given by

V = π r² h cubic units

where r is the radius and h is the height (or length).

Find the volume of the pipe in cubic inches and the divide by 231 to convert the volume to gallons.

Penny

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