A Mind like a Steel Trap

If you don’t have a mind like a steel trap, or fifth grade math concepts are getting a little fuzzy, there’s always Google.

I needed to determine how many milliliters a particular cylinder would hold for a promotional project. Thanks to Google I was able to compute all the necessary calculations and conversions without using a calculator—or pen and paper.

The Formula

I knew the formula for determining the volume of a cylinder is:
π • r² • height = volume (where r = radius)

Had I not known the formula, I could’ve easily found it (and generator sites) by simply Googling: cylinder volume. The same is true of pi; Googling: pi generates a number accurate to 8 decimal places.

The cylinder has a radius of 1.5″ and an overall height of 10″. In this case, a basic 3.14 round off of pi sufficed. Based on the formula, I typed the following directly into the Google search field (*=multiplication; ^=exponent/power of):

3.14*1.5^2*10

Google returned with: 3.14 * (1.5^2) * 10 = 70.65

The cylinder has a volume of 70.65 cubic inches, but I need the volume in milliliters.

Converting Results

Typing directly into the Google search field, I entered:
cubic inch to milliliter

Google returned: 1 cubic inch = 16.387064 milliliter

I entered the number of cubic inches (70.65) multiplied by the conversion factor (16.387064) into the search field: 70.65*16.387064

Google responded with the answer:
70.65 * 16.387064 = 1157.74607 or about 1158 ml.

Realizing Results

Using Google as a calculator can be a time saver. For a legend of symbols and much more on using Google as a calculator, check out Google’s calculator page.

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