Cylindrical Tanks

Quite correct; they are indeed easy to calculate, especially if vertical. Even horizontal takes at most high-school trig.

V=πr²l

Cylindrical tanks are calculated not just randomly like tank area x hight gives volume but also the volume to surface area ratio. One chooses the lowest ratio to minimize the cost of the tank. (see the curve.) To calculate this, one needs a well working knowledge of calculus. (calculus is a branch of advanced mathematics)

<...One chooses the lowest ratio to minimize the cost of the tank...>

Not necessarily:

• Footprint can be an issue.
• Height can be an issue, especially for plastic tanks where there is a payoff between material strength and hydralic head imposed upon it.
• Access can be an issue, especially for indoor tanks. It is no good building the tank to a minimum cost formula if the damn thing cannot be got into the building without knocking down and rebuilding a wall...

These are not the tanks we speak about, PWslack. These piddly little tanks one drags inside buildings, material cost is not an issue. We speak of huge outdoor storage tanks, erected on the spot. Ever seen any??

Here's the original post, in it's entirety. "easy calculation of cylindrical tank"

How did we get from there to, "huge outdoor storage tanks, erected on the spot."?

I edited the sarcasm out.

Cheers.

sir, is it not simply ∏r² x H?

Pi x rsq x H is indeed the volume formula for a geometric cylinder. No argument about that. But consider this example: You need to store 1570 cu/meters of some liquid or other, and you examine a tank 20m diam and 5 meters high. You also examine another tank of 10m dia and 20 meters high. Both tanks have a volume of 1570 cu/meters but one tank will require more material to construct it than the other. So here you got two cylindrical tanks of the same volume but one is more expensive to construct than the other. So there a ratio between the tanks volume and its surface area. In this ratio there is a cut-off point, a point of least material for a given volume. This can be calculated. On a very large tank the savings could amount to thousands of dollars. On little tanks this is less important because their surface area is usually very small anyway. A certified engineer, educated in a top class University, can explain all this to you in greater detail.