Explanation
In geometry, the formula for calculating the volume of a cylinder is:
The Greek letter π (“pi”) represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. In Excel, π is represented in a formula with the PI function , which returns the number 3.14159265358979, accurate to 15 digits:
=PI() // returns 3.14159265358979
To square a number in Excel, you can use the exponentiation operator (^):
=A1^2
Or, you can use the POWER function :
=POWER(A1,2)
Rewriting the formula for volume of a cylinder with Excel’s math operators , we get:
=PI()*B5^2*C5
Or, with the POWER function:
=PI()*POWER(B5,2)*C5
The result is the same for both formulas. Following Excel’s order of operations , exponentiation will occur before multiplication.
Explanation
In geometry, the formula for calculating the volume of a rectangular prism is:
=lwh
This formula can be represented in Excel with the multiplication operator (*) like this
=l*w*h
In the example shown, the formula in E5 is:
=B5*C5*D5 // returns 0.13
As the formula is copied down the column, it calculates a new volume in each row, using the length in column B (l), the width in column C (w) and the height in column D (h).
