Examples
Examples
Try the starting example
- Track length (metres)
- 10
- Bed cross-section (square millimetres)
- 500
- Measured bulk density (kg/litre)
- 1.5
- Pack mass (kg)
- 2
- User waste allowance (fraction)
- 0.1
- Required ballast volume (litres)
- 5.5
- Whole packs (count)
- 5
Try another scenario
- Track length (metres)
- 12
- Bed cross-section (square millimetres)
- 600
- Measured bulk density (kg/litre)
- 1.6
- Pack mass (kg)
- 2.5
- User waste allowance (fraction)
- 0.15
- Required ballast volume (litres)
- 8.28
- Whole packs (count)
- 6
Calculation method
Calculation method
Required ballast volume (litres)
Length metres×cross-section mm²/1000×(1+waste).
Whole packs (count)
ceil(volume litres×density/pack kg).
Symbols and units
- a
- Track length (metres)
- b
- Bed cross-section (square millimetres)
- c
- Measured bulk density (kg/litre)
- d
- Pack mass (kg)
- e
- User waste allowance (fraction)
Use the units shown. A list keeps the order in which you enter its values. The symbol ^ means “raised to the power of”.
Assumptions & limits
Assumptions & limits
- Uniform measured ballast cross-section and bulk density; purchase whole packs. Supported limits: All numeric inputs and computed intermediates must remain finite. Supported numeric input magnitude is zero or 1e-12 through 1e12 in absolute value; reject values outside this bounded range. All lists/JSON record tables are limited to 100 records unless a stricter bound is stated; reject malformed record arity and wrong member types. All numeric values must be finite. Lists contain at most 100 records; required lists must be nonempty. Rates, probabilities and fractions are entered as fractions, not percentages; fractions must be between 0 and 1. Use a single consistent user-selected currency for all amounts; no exchange-rate conversion.
Are these inputs private?
These calculations run in your browser. A shared link contains the values you choose to share. Only questions submitted to the separate AI finder are sent to OpenAI.