How To Calculate Height From Volume

Height is an integral dimension in determining an object's volume. To find the height measurement of an object, you need to know its geometric shape, such as cube, rectangle or pyramid. One of the easiest ways to think of height as it corresponds to volume is to think of the other dimensions as a base area. The height is just that many base areas stacked upon each other. Individual object volume formulas can be rearranged to calculate height. Mathematicians have long ago worked out the volume formulas for all known geometric shapes. In some cases, such as the cube, solving for height is easy; in others, it takes a little simple algebra.

The formula for the volume of a solid rectangle is width x depth x height. Divide the volume by the product of the length and width to calculate the height of a rectangular object. For this example, the rectangular object has a length of 20, a width of 10 and a volume of 6,000. The product of 20 and 10 is 200, and 6,000 divided by 200 results in 30. The height of the object is 30.

A cube is a kind of rectangle where all the sides are the same. So to find volume, cube the length of any side. To find height, calculate the cube root of a cube's volume. For this example, the cube has a volume of 27. The cube root of 27 is 3. The height of the cube is 3.

A cylinder is a straight rod or peg shape, with a circular cross-section that has the same radius all the way from top to bottom. Its volume is the area of the circle (pi x radius^2) times the height. Divide the volume of a cylinder by the amount of the radius squared multiplied by pi, to calculate its height. For this example, the volume of the cylinder is 300 and the radius is 3. Squaring 3 results in 9, and multiplying 9 by pi results in 28.274. Dividing 300 by 28.274 results in 10.61. The height of the cylinder is 10.61.

A square pyramid has a flat square base and four triangular sides that meet at a point on the top. The volume formula is length x width x height ÷ 3. Triple the volume of a pyramid and then divide that amount by the area of the base to calculate its height. For this example, the volume of the pyramid is 200 and the area of its base is 30. Multiplying 200 by 3 results in 600, and dividing 600 by 30 results in 20. The height of the pyramid is 20.

Geometry describes a few different kinds of prisms: some have rectangular bases, some have bases that are triangular. In either case, the cross-section is the same all the way through, like the cylinder. The volume of the prism is the area of the base times the height. So to calculate height, divide the volume of a prism by its base area. For this example, the volume of the prism is 500 and its base area is 50. Dividing 500 by 50 results in 10. The height of the prism is 10.