I'm going to prove the formula for the volume of a truncated

rectangular pyramid with a square base and square top. It's much
easier to work with a square base instead of a rectangular one. Liu Hui
(22 ! 2" #$% &hina' discovered the volume of a truncated pyramid
with a square base and square top. He called it a fangting. (irst% he
broke the shape into ) pieces* one rectangular prism (bo+'% four
pyramids and four triangular prisms (wedges'. ,hen% he calculated the
volume of each piece and came up with a formula for the overall
shape.
Let's say the top is a square with side length a% the bottom is a square
with side length b and the height is h. -ow% let's look at the volume of
each piece.
.ectangular /rism* V 0 l w h%
so our rectangular prism's volume will be (a'(a'(h' or a
2
h
/yramid* V 0 (123'(base'(height'%
so our pyramid's volume will be V 0 (123'((b ! a'22'
2
(h'
,riangular /rism* V 0 (122'(length'(width'(height'%
so our triangular prism's volume will be V 0 (122'((b ! a'22'(a'(h'
-ow% we need to add all the pieces together to get the whole
truncated pyramid. 4ince we have one rectangular prism% four
identical pyramids and four identical triangular prisms% our formula
will be*
V 0 (a
2
h' 5 6(123'((b ! a'22'
2
(h' 5 6(122'((b ! a'22'(a'(h'
0 a
2
h 5 (123'(b ! a'
2
(h' 5 (b ! a'(a'(h'
0 a
2
h 5 (123'(b
2
! 2ab 5 a
2
'(h' 5 abh ! a
2
h
0 a
2
h 5 (123'(b
2
h ! 2abh 5 a
2
h' 5 abh ! a
2
h (-ow% factor out a (123''
0 (123'(3a
2
h 5 b
2
h ! 2abh 5 a
2
h 5 3abh ! 3a
2
h'
0 (123'(a
2
h 5 abh 5 b
2
h' (-ow% factor out an h'
0 (123'(a
2
5 ab 5 b
2
'(h'
4o% our formula for a truncated pyramid with a square base and top is
V 0 (123'(a
2
5 ab 5 b
2
'(h'
I've come up with a formula for the volume of any truncated
rectangular based pyramid* V 0 (127'(2abh 5 ayh 5 bxh 5 2xyh'%
where a and b are the length and width of the top% x and y are the
length and width of the bottom and h is the height. #lso% a (top' runs
parallel to x (bottom' and b (top' runs parallel to y (bottom'. I'm not
going to prove this formula... it's too complicated to do with this
program.
The tank can be split into three portions:
(1) The middle bit, which is a cylinder, the volume of which can be calculated by
V(cyl)= pi * !" * h
where ## is the radius (half of the diameter), and #h# is the hei$ht (or len$th) of the
cylinder
(" and %) The two end portions, each of which is a se$ment , or &one, of a sphere (more or
less)' The Volume of each &one is
V(&one) = 1() * pi * b * (%a!" * b!"),
where #b# is the distance from the end of the cylinder out to the end of the &one, and #a# is
the distance to where the sphere meets the cylinder portion, perpendicular to #b#' +,o #b# is
the same distance as ## of the cylinder of the first portion-'
Therefore the volume is
V(total) = V(cyl) * " * V(&one) from above
Volume Formulas
Note: "ab" means "a" multiplied by "b". "a
2
" means "a squared", which is
the same as "a" times "a". "b
3
" means "b cubed", which is the same
as "b" times "b" times "b".
Be careful!! Units count. Use the same units for all measurements.
Examples
cube = a
3

rectangular prism = a b c
irregular prism = b h
cylinder = b h = pi r
2
h
pyramid = (1/3) b h
cone = (1/3) b h = 1/3 pi r
2
h
sphere = (4/3) pi r
3

ellipsoid = (4/3) pi r1 r2 r3

Units
Volume is measured in "cubic" units. The olume o! a !igure is the number o! cubes re"uired to !ill it
completely# li$e bloc$s in a bo%.
Volume o! a cube = side times side times side. &ince each side o! a s"uare is the same# it can
simply be the length o! one side cubed.
'! a s"uare has one side o! 4 inches# the olume (ould be 4 inches times 4 inches times 4 inches# or
)4 cubic inches. (*ubic inches can also be (ritten in
3
.)
Be sure to use the same units for all measurements. +ou cannot multiply !eet times inches
times yards# it doesn,t ma$e a per!ectly cubed measurement.
The olume o! a rectangular prism is the length on the side times the (idth times the height. '! the
(idth is 4 inches# the length is 1 !oot and the height is 3 !eet# (hat is the olume-
erimeter formula
Square 4 * side
Rectangle 2 * (length + width)
Parallelogram 2 * (side1 + side2)
Triangle side1 + side2 + side3
Regular n-ol!gon n * side
Trae"oid height * (#ase1 + #ase2) $ 2
Trae"oid #ase1 + #ase2 + height * %csc(theta1) +
csc(theta2)&
'ircle 2 * i * radius
(llise 4 * radius1 * (()*i$2)
(()*i$2) is the 'omlete (llitic +ntegral o,
the Second -ind
) . (1$radius1) * sqrt(radius1
2
- radius2
2
)
!rea formula
Square side
2
Rectangle length * width
Parallelogram #ase * height
Triangle #ase * height $ 2
Regular n-ol!gon (1$4) * n * side
2
* cot(i$n)
Trae"oid height * (#ase1 + #ase2) $ 2
'ircle i * radius
2
(llise i * radius1 * radius2
'u#e (sur,ace) / * side
2
Shere (sur,ace) 4 * i * radius
2
'!linder (sur,ace o,
side)
erimeter o, circle * height
2 * i * radius * height
'!linder (whole
sur,ace)
0reas o, to and #ottom circles + 0rea o,
the side
2(i * radius
2
) + 2 * i * radius * height
'one (sur,ace) i * radius * side
Torus (sur,ace) i
2
* (radius2
2
- radius1
2
)
"olume formula
'u#e side
3
Rectangular Prism side1 * side2 * side3
Shere (4$3) * i * radius
3
(llisoid (4$3) * i * radius1 * radius2 * radius3
'!linder i * radius
2
* height
'one (1$3) * i * radius
2
* height
P!ramid (1$3) * (#ase area) * height
Torus (1$4) * i
2
* (r1 + r2) * (r1 - r2)
2