Volume of a Cube

vCalc Reviewed

Last modified by

KurtHeckman

on

May 23, 2023, 2:02:44 PM

Created by

MichaelBartmess

on

Jan 4, 2014, 7:26:13 PM

V = s^{3}

$V = "s" ^3$

(s) side of cube

$(s)"side of cube"$

The Math/Science

The formula for the volume of a cube is:

V = s³

where:

V is the volume of a cube
s is the length of any side

A General Discussion of the Cubic Unit of Volume

We can make the names of the two units, of length and volume, a little clearer by examining their relationship in the most common frame of reference, a three-dimensional cubic space.

A meter is a unit of length that describes a distance equivalent to the length of a meter-long measuring device. A simple and somewhat inaccurate physical device to measure distances or lengths is a commonly sold as a wooden or metal bar with graduations defining the sub-lengths of a standard length like the foot, the meter, the yard. You can buy a measuring device that will show these increments or sub-elements of a meter, just like a 1 foot ruler will show 12 increments of 12 individual inches.

A cubic meter is a unit of volume. The easiest way to visualize a cubic meter is a box that is one meter on each side. In other words the box has width of 1 meter, depth of one meter, and height of 1 meter — a perfect cube with each edge measuring one meter in length.

So any time you see a unit with “cubic” in front of it, you are talking about a unit of volume. Cubic meter means equal to a cube volume with each edge being 1 meter in length.

It happens to be that the calculation of volume is generalized by the formula described by this vCalc page, which specifies the dimension of the volume as three-dimensional coordinates of width, depth and height:

Volume = width x depth x height

So for a cubic meter that formula becomes:

Volume of a cubic meter = 1 meter width x 1 meter depth x 1 meter length

1 cubic meter = 1 meter x 1 meter x 1 meter

Related Cube Calculators:

Volume is a three dimensional measurement of the amount of space taken up by an object. Volume units are cubic measurements for solid objects such as cubic inches and cubic meters. Fluids have separate volume units such as liters, fluid ounces, cups, gallons, and barrel.

The volume of an object can measured by the liquid it displaces or be calculated by measuring its dimensions and applying those dimensions to a formula describing its shape. Many such calculations are available in the following list of calculators.

In many cases, the calculators are for a column with a geometric shaped base and vertical sides. One basic formula for volume is area times a Height when the volume has vertical sides.