Volume

[Guest]

A cylindrical oil tank is laying on it's side on a level rack. A stick is placed through a hole in the upper side, and indicates 1 foot of oil in the tank.

Dimensions of tank- diameter- 10 ft. length- 20 ft.

231 cu. in. in a gallon.

Calculate number of gallons of oil in the tank.

X - number of gallons

Volume of a cylinder: [pi]* r^2 * h


3.1416 * 5 * 5 * 20 = 1570.8 cu. ft.

1570.8 / 231 = 6.8

X = 6.8

That is not correct. Where did I make the error(s)?


Thanks for your assistance.

[Guest]

Two mistakes.

Firstly you calculate the volume in cubic feet, but use the conversion for cubic inches to gallons.

Secondly the question states that the oil tank is not full. So the vertical cross-section of the oil is a segment of the circle not the full circle. You can calculate the area of the segment using the information provided in the question.

Hope that helped,

R. Baber.