 |
| ||
| |||
|
| Math Central | Quandaries & Queries |
|
Question from tim: I need to know how many gallons of water a 16" pipe that is 3 miles long holds? |
Hi Tim,
I know there are 231 cubic inches in a US gallon so I would first 3 mile measurement to inches. There are 12 inches in a foot and 5280 feet in a mile so 3 miles is 3 × 12 × 5280 inches.
Your pipe is long cylinder that is 16 inches in diameter so its radius is 8 inches. The volume of a cylinder is π r2 L where r is the radius, L is the length and π is approximately 3.1416. Thus the volume of your pipe is
π × 82 × 3 × 12 × 5280 cubic inches.
Since there are 231 cubic inches in a US gallon divide the volume in cubic inches by 231 to obtain the volume in gallons.
Penny
| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
 |
|
Math Central is supported by the University of Regina and The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences.