[Tex/LaTex] partially filled, tilted cylinder in TikZ

diagramstikz-pgf

I have a diagram I'd like to reproduce in TikZ:

enter image description here

Picture a can (cylinder of radius r and height L) that has liquid in it. In each diagram, the can is tilted so that the surface of the liquid just touches where the top meets the sides. In the first diagram, the liquid covers the entire bottom, while in the second, only half.

Edit: Yes, I could do this myself given the time, but I'd like to see how others would handle the 3D aspect. Is there a better way to draw a projected circle than to draw an ellipse? [There you go @Andrew.]

The optimal code would use styles and named coordinates so that one could alter the diagram by changing only a few parameters.

Best Answer

Do you want something a bit like this?

cylinders with liquid

If so, I'm afraid I don't know how to do that.

(Added in edit after question was closed. The above was produced using TikZ, contrary to my comment below. However, the code is messy and not elegant - it was a quick hack to make the joke. I've sent it privately to Matthew but I am not going to post it here. There are some interesting aspects in doing a drawing such as this one, so if anyone is interested in producing diagrams like this one then I encourage them to think carefully about which bits they could do and which would be hard, and then ask a focussed question specifically about the hard bits.)

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Efficient way to partially fill a cylinder

I don't know about cylinder patricians like Andrew Stacey, but if you don't neccesarily need the filled cylinders in any perspectivce, a cylinder pleb like me might do something like this:

\documentclass[parskip]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[margin=15mm]{geometry}
\usepackage{tikz}

\newcommand{\paficy}[5]{%
\pgfmathsetmacro{\cylinderradius}{#1}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\cylinderheight}{#2}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\fillpercentage}{#3}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\aspectratio}{#4}
\providecommand{\fillcolor}{#5}
\fill[\fillcolor] (0,0) ellipse (\cylinderradius*1cm and \cylinderradius*\aspectratio*1cm);
\fill[\fillcolor] (0,\cylinderheight*\fillpercentage) ellipse (\cylinderradius*1cm and \cylinderradius*\aspectratio*1cm);
\fill[\fillcolor] (-\cylinderradius,0) rectangle (\cylinderradius,\cylinderheight*\fillpercentage);
\draw (-\cylinderradius,0) arc (180:360:\cylinderradius*1cm and \cylinderradius*\aspectratio*1cm);
\draw[dashed] (-\cylinderradius,0) arc (180:0:\cylinderradius*1cm and \cylinderradius*\aspectratio*1cm);
\draw (0,\cylinderheight*\fillpercentage) ellipse (\cylinderradius*1cm and \cylinderradius*\aspectratio*1cm);
\draw (0,\cylinderheight) ellipse (\cylinderradius*1cm and \cylinderradius*\aspectratio*1cm);
\draw (-\cylinderradius,0) -- (-\cylinderradius,\cylinderheight);
\draw (\cylinderradius,0) -- (\cylinderradius,\cylinderheight);
}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
    \paficy{2}{7}{0.37}{0.35}{red!50!orange}
\end{tikzpicture}
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \paficy{2}{7}{0.89}{0.35}{green!50!orange}
\end{tikzpicture}

\begin{tikzpicture}
    \paficy{4}{5}{0.25}{0.15}{blue!70!gray}
\end{tikzpicture}
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \paficy{4}{5}{0.75}{0.15}{red!70!gray}
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

enter image description here

If however you need them in other perspectives, I really can recommend Andrew Stacey's answer linked by Jake, it came in very handy when I had to do a exploded view drawing a while back.

[Tex/LaTex] How to get access to the size parameters of a TikZ node

Here is one possibility with not-exactly-failproof node construction. The triangles are also accesible with (<nodename>-leftri) and (<nodename>-rightri). The possible failure reason would be rotating the node. It's possible to include that but it's unnecessarily complicated at this stage and I don't know if you ever need it.

\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes.geometric}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}[mynode/.style args={#1 and #2}{
draw,
minimum height=#1,
minimum width=#2,
rounded corners=0.5*#1,
append after command={
\pgfextra{%                 
    \begin{pgfinterruptpath}
    \node[isosceles triangle,
          isosceles triangle stretches,
          draw=black,inner sep=0,
          anchor=west,
          minimum width=0.5*#1,
          minimum height=0.2*#1,
          fill=black] 
          (\tikzlastnode-leftri) at ([xshift=0.5*#1]\tikzlastnode.west) {};
    \node[isosceles triangle,
          isosceles triangle stretches,
          draw=black,inner sep=0,
          anchor=west,
          minimum width=0.5*#1,
          minimum height=0.2*#1,
          isosceles triangle apex angle=90]
          (\tikzlastnode-rightri) at ([xshift=-0.5*#1]\tikzlastnode.east) {};
\end{pgfinterruptpath}
        }   
    }
}
]

\node[mynode=1cm and 4cm] (a) {};
\node[mynode=3cm and 8cm] (b) at (0,3) {};
\draw (a-leftri) -- (b-rightri);
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

enter image description here

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Efficient way to partially fill a cylinder

[Tex/LaTex] How to get access to the size parameters of a TikZ node

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