# How many gallons would this be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2004, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408 "2004-06-21T04:58:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/1 "2004-06-21T04:58:25Z")
looking from the ceiling down, the shape of the object is that of a |_| with the legs (the up rights?) being 6’ long and the back/bottom/_ part being 8’ long, the entire shape would be 6’ tall and all dimensions are exterior how many gallons would it hold? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/2 "2004-06-21T05:05:53Z")
[288 (cubic feet) = 2,154.4 US gallons](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=288+cubic+feet+in+gallons) ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/3 "2004-06-21T05:08:15Z")
It’s impossible to say exactly from the information you’ve given. We need the _interior_ dimensions, or at least the thickness of the material it’s made from. Assuming the walls are of negligible thickness, the dimensions you’ve given appear to describe a rectangular solid 6 x 6 x 8 feet or 288 ft.[sup]3[/sup], which is about 2,154.5 gallons. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/4 "2004-06-21T05:08:28Z")
I forgot to say that the thickness of the legs would be 2’ and that the thickness/depth of the back would also be 2’ does that mess up your calculations? ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/5 "2004-06-21T05:09:39Z")
it’s not meant to be a rectangle, it’s meant to be a U-shape, with squares instead of curves ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/6 "2004-06-21T05:15:05Z")
> [@Dan Turk](#): > > it’s not meant to be a rectangle, it’s meant to be a U-shape, with squares instead of curves Are we filling the interior of the U (imagine the U as a cup), or are we filling the U itself, like this: ```auto XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX ``` The Xs would be the filled part. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/7 "2004-06-21T05:16:10Z")
Errrr, you get the idea. Shoulda previewed… ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/8 "2004-06-21T05:17:01Z")
we are filling the U part…um…the parts in the X it’s an aquarium ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/9 "2004-06-21T05:23:07Z")
> [@Dan Turk](#): > > we are filling the U part…um…the parts in the X > > it’s an aquarium Ok, based on this new information, it works out to 40 ft.[sup]3[/sup], or about 299.2 gallons, by my calculations. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/10 "2004-06-21T05:25:57Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > Ok, based on this new information, it works out to 40 ft.[sup]3[/sup], or about 299.2 gallons, by my calculations. Idiot. :smack: I know this wasn’t right as soon as I posted it. It should be 256 ft.[sup]3[/sup], or 1914.88 gallons. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/11 "2004-06-21T05:27:37Z")
hrm… each leg would be 6_6_2 and the back part(not counting the parts the legs account for) would be 4_6_2 so 72\*2 + 48 144+48 = 192 cubic feet google translates that to… 192 (cubic feet) = 1,436.25973 US gallons tho I’m not one to question you, one of us is completely and utterly wrong ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/12 "2004-06-21T05:34:47Z")
> [@Dan Turk](#): > > hrm… > > each leg would be 6_6_2 and the back part(not counting the parts the legs account for) would be 4_6_2 > > so 72\*2 + 48 > > 144+48 = 192 cubic feet > > google translates that to… > 192 (cubic feet) = 1,436.25973 US gallons > tho I’m not one to question you, one of us is completely and utterly wrong Ok, I was reading it as 8 ft. deep, not 6. Your description was a tad confusing. Yes, 192 ft.[sup]3[/sup] is correct. But why did you ask us, if you could figure it out yourself? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gallons-would-this-be/251408/13 "2004-06-21T05:36:12Z")
because I’m bored, lonely, and often wrong 🙂 thanks for your assisitance