Practice Volume of a Sphere in Math

Use these practice problems to test your method after reviewing the concept explanation and worked examples.

Quick Recap

The amount of three-dimensional space inside a sphere, given by 43ฯ€r3\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3.

Imagine filling a sphere with water, then pouring all that water into a cylinder that has the same radius and a height equal to the sphere's diameter (2r2r). The sphere fills exactly two-thirds of the cylinder. Archimedes was so proud of discovering this relationship that he had it carved on his tombstone.

Showing a random 20 of 50 problems.

Example 1

hard
A sphere is inscribed in a cylinder so that the cylinder's height equals the sphere's diameter. Show the ratio of sphere volume to cylinder volume is 2:32:3.

Example 2

easy
Use ฯ€โ‰ˆ3.14\pi\approx 3.14. A sphere has radius 33. Find its volume.

Example 3

medium
A sphere has volume VV. If its radius is halved, find the new volume in terms of VV.

Example 4

medium
A balloon's volume doubles. By what factor does its radius grow? Give answer to 3 decimal places.

Example 5

easy
A sphere has radius 2. Find its volume (use ฯ€โ‰ˆ3.14\pi \approx 3.14).

Example 6

hard
A hollow ball has outer radius 55 and inner radius 44. Find the volume of material in terms of ฯ€\pi.

Example 7

hard
A solid hemisphere of radius 66 sits on a cylinder of radius 66 and height 44. Find the total volume in terms of ฯ€\pi.

Example 8

medium
A spherical ball just fits inside a cube of side 1010. Find the volume of the empty space inside the cube, in terms of ฯ€\pi.

Example 9

medium
A sphere of radius 5 is dropped into a cylinder of radius 5 partly full of water. By how much does the water level rise, in terms of ฯ€\pi then numerically?

Example 10

medium
A balloon's volume increases from 36ฯ€36\pi to 288ฯ€288\pi. By what factor did its radius grow?

Example 11

medium
A spherical scoop of ice cream has radius 22 cm. About how many cmยณ is it? (Use ฯ€โ‰ˆ3.14\pi\approx 3.14.)

Example 12

challenge
Earth's radius is about 4 times the Moon's. Approximately how many Moons fit inside the Earth, by volume?

Example 13

easy
What units does the volume of a sphere have if its radius is in meters?

Example 14

easy
A sphere of radius 00 has what volume?

Example 15

hard
If the radius of a sphere is doubled, by what factor does its volume increase? Prove your answer algebraically.

Example 16

challenge
A spherical cap is cut from a sphere of radius 5 by a plane 3 units from the center. Using the cap formula V=ฯ€h23(3Rโˆ’h)V = \frac{\pi h^2}{3}(3R - h), find the smaller cap's volume.

Example 17

easy
A sphere has volume 4ฯ€3\tfrac{4\pi}{3}. Find its radius.

Example 18

challenge
Use Cavalieri's principle with a cylinder-minus-two-cones to argue the hemisphere volume is 23ฯ€r3\frac{2}{3}\pi r^3.

Example 19

easy
What fraction of a cylinder (radius r, height 2r) does a sphere of radius r fill?

Example 20

medium
A hemisphere of radius 6 sits on top of a cylinder of radius 6 and height 10. Find the total volume in terms of ฯ€\pi.