How much can a silo hold?

Silos are common in an agricultural landscape.The silo is very useful on the farm. It allows the farmer to store large quanities of grain or silage, while keeping it protected from outside elements such as wind or moisture. There are two types of silos. There is a horizontal silo, which is either cut into the ground, or built just above ground level. There is also the vertical silo, which is just like the one pictured here. These silos are watertight and are made of wood, concrete, or steel. The vertical silos are generally between twenty to thirty feet in diameter, and about fifty to sixty feet tall!

Imagine that the silo pictured above has a diameter of thirty feet and a height of sixty feet. How can you find out how much the silo will hold?

To calculate the area of your silo, you need to know the following information:

HeightDiameterRadius
60 feet30 feet15 feet

There is one other thing which you'll need to know before being able to finish the problem. In the equation to find the area of your silo, there is a value which is called Pi. It is pronouced like the word pie, as in apple pie, but it means a totally different thing. Pi is a value which is always the same; it is always 3.14. So, when you run across the word Pi as you are solving this problem, insert the value 3.14 in place of the word. It is not important for you to understand all the uses of Pi right now, but you will need it to find the area of your silo.

How much can your silo hold?



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