Pyramid Volume Calculator
This tool computes the volume and surface metrics of a right pyramid (apex directly above the centroid of the base) for the four most common base shapes: square, rectangle, equilateral triangle and any regular n-gon (n ≥ 3). The underlying identity is Euclid Book XII Prop. 7 — every pyramid has one-third the volume of a prism with the same base and height — i.e. V = ⅓ × base area × height. Alongside the volume the tool reports base area, base apothem, slant height ℓ, lateral surface area and total surface area, which covers most architecture, model-making, paper-template and school-geometry use cases.
Enter valid numbers — every length and the height must be > 0; the polygon side count must be an integer ≥ 3.
Volume V
400
Results carry the cube of whatever length unit you enter (cm → cm³, m → m³, ft → ft³, etc.).
Formula
V = ⅓ × base area × height. For a regular n-gon base: A = ¼ n s² cot(π/n), slant ℓ = √(h² + a²) where a is the apothem.
Formula
V = ⅓ × A_base × h Regular n-gon base, side s: A_base = ¼ n s² cot(π / n) apothem = s / (2 tan(π / n)) slant ℓ = √(h² + apothem²) lateral = ½ n s ℓ Rectangular pyramid (length a, width b, height h): V = a b h / 3 lateral = a √(h² + (b/2)²) + b √(h² + (a/2)²)
- · The height h is the perpendicular drop from the apex to the base — *not* the slant edge from the apex to a base corner. Treating the slant edge as the height is the classic schoolbook mistake.
- · Output units are the cube of whatever length unit you enter: cm → cm³, m → m³, ft → ft³, etc. Mix units only at your peril.
- · The n-gon formulas assume a *regular* polygon (equal sides and equal angles). For irregular quadrilateral bases (general trapezoid, kite, etc.) compute the base area separately (e.g. shoelace formula) and apply V = ⅓ × A × h.
- · A rectangular pyramid has two different slant heights (along the long side vs the short side), so the tool does not display a single slant in rectangular mode; the lateral surface area still adds the two triangle pairs correctly.
- · Reference dimension: the Great Pyramid of Giza (Khufu) — base side 230.4 m, original height 146.6 m → V ≈ 2,594,000 m³. Use this as a sanity check.
- · Math applies only to right pyramids (apex centred over the base). For oblique pyramids the volume V = ⅓ × A × h still holds (Cavalieri), but lateral surface area must be computed face-by-face — not covered here.
- · References: Euclid, Elements, Book XII Prop. 7; CRC Standard Mathematical Tables and Formulae, ed. Zwillinger; Lehner, "The Complete Pyramids" (Thames & Hudson, 1997) — source for the Khufu figures.
Frequently asked
My homework gives the slant edge (apex-to-base-corner distance), not the vertical height — how do I convert?
For a square pyramid (base side a, slant edge e): half the base diagonal is a√2 / 2, so the vertical height is h = √(e² − (a√2 / 2)²) = √(e² − a² / 2). For an equilateral-triangle base of side a and slant edge e (the tetrahedron family): the centroid-to-vertex distance is a / √3, giving h = √(e² − a² / 3). For a general regular n-gon, first compute the circumradius R = s / (2 sin(π / n)), then h = √(e² − R²). Once you have h, plug it back into the tool. If your value is the *slant height* ℓ (apex to the midpoint of a base edge, not a corner), the conversion is different: h = √(ℓ² − apothem²), with apothem = s / (2 tan(π / n)). Keep edge length, slant height and vertical height clearly distinct.
Why does the triangular-base mode assume an *equilateral* triangle, and what if mine is scalene?
Because an equilateral triangle is the regular 3-gon — like the square (regular 4-gon) and hexagon (regular 6-gon), all sides and angles are equal, so a single parameter s describes the base. If your base is a scalene triangle, first compute its area with Heron's formula: A = √(p(p−a)(p−b)(p−c)) where p = (a+b+c)/2; then V = ⅓ × A × h with h the perpendicular drop from the apex. For a right-triangle base, A = ½ × leg₁ × leg₂ is even quicker. We don't expose a dedicated scalene-triangle base mode here; the site's Triangle Calculator can hand you the base area, which you can then feed into V = ⅓ × A × h manually.
Is the volume of an Egyptian pyramid really just ⅓ × base² × height? How did builders even measure that?
Yes. The Great Pyramid of Giza (Khufu): base side 230.4 m, original apex height 146.6 m → V = 230.4² × 146.6 / 3 ≈ 2.594 × 10⁶ m³. Petrie's 1880s survey and modern laser scans both agree. Historically the rule emerged empirically with Egyptian and Babylonian scribes and was first proved rigorously by Euclid (Elements XII.7) using the method of exhaustion: any pyramid has exactly one-third the volume of a prism on the same base with the same height. Construction-wise, the builders measured rise/run with the "seked" (palms back per cubit up), trued elevations with water-filled trenches, and aligned the base with sighting rods and rope geometry. The Khufu base squareness is within ≈ 0.05 % — staggering for 4,500 years ago.
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