Sometimes body fluids are captured in a bucket and the volume needs to be estimated. One example is the cholera bucket used to capture the watery diarrhea, with a dipstick used to estimate volume as a guide to fluid replacement.
Factors:
(1) A bucket is an inverted, truncated cone.
(2) The circumference at the base and top can be more accurately measured than the radius.
circumference in centimeters =
= 2 * π * (radius in cm)
volume of the fluid in mL (cubic cm) =
= 1/3 * π * (height of fluid in cm) * (((radius of bucket at base in cm)^2) + ((radius of bucket at top of fluid in cm)^2) + ((radius of bucket at base in cm) * (radius of bucket at top of fluid in cm)))
radius at a given height in cm =
= ((slope of bucket) * (height in cm)) + (radius at base in cm)
slope of bucket =
= ((radius at top of bucket in cm) – (radius at base in cm)) / (height of the bucket from base to rim in cm) =
= ((circumference at top in cm) – (circumference at base in cm)) / (2 * π * (height of bucket in cm))
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