Calculate Milliliters in a Test Tube

Calculator of how much fits in a test tube of a certain height and diameter.

This applies to cylindrical test tubes with a round opening and a hemispherical bottom. The height is the total height of the inside, from the bottom to the mouth or fill level. If the height is less than half the diameter, i.e. the test tube is only filled up to part of the round bottom, then the filled shape is a spherical cap.

Example: a test tube with a diameter of 1.5 cm and a fill level of 8 cm has a content of almost 13.7 milliliters.

Please enter diameter and height, the volume in milliliters (ml) and in liters (l) will be calculated. One liter is a thousand milliliters.

The formula for the volume is:
for h ≥ d/2: V = π/12 * [ d³ + 3d² * (h - d/2) ]
for h < d/2: V = π/3 * h² * (3/2d - h)

The standard test tube is 16 centimeters long and 16 millimeters in diameter, or 1.6 centimeters. There are also much smaller and slightly larger models. Test tubes are an indispensable part of the equipment in most types of laboratories, and are often found there in large numbers. A test tube is used for carrying out chemical reactions with small quantities, for example in research and teaching. In addition, substances are also simply stored in them, especially those in liquid form. For this purpose, they are closed with a stopper made of rubber, glass or cork. The test tube to be calculated here has the standard shape. There is also a centrifuge shape, where the base is not a hemisphere, but roughly a paraboloid; these have longer tips but are still rounded. The calculation for these is much more complicated. Finally, you occasionally come across the very simple shape of a plain cylinder, the calculation for which is identical to that for the can.