Measurement: Volume of Cube and Cuboid - Part 1

Practice Unlimited Questions

Units of Volume (l, ml, cm3)

Volume can be measured in several units.

Some of the more common ones are:
  • cm3 or cubic centimetres
  • millilitres
  • litres

Following is the relation between the units of volume:
  • 1 litre  =  1000 ml
  • 1 ml  =  1 cm3
  • 1 litre  =  1000 cm3

1. What are cubes and cuboids?

2. What is a cubic unit?

measuring unit cube
1 cubic unit is the amount of space that a unit cube occupies.

Or simply,
1 cubic unit = the volume of a unit cube

The object below is made of 6 unit cubes.

measuring unit cube
Its volume is 6 cubic units.

Here are some other solids that have the same volume (6 cubic units).

measuring unit cube

3. What is 1 cm3?

measuring centimeter cube
1 cm3 = the volume of a cube of 1-cm sides

The object below is made of eight 1-cm3 units.

measuring centimeter cube
Its volume is 8 cm3 or 8 cubic centimetres.

Here are some other solids that have the same volume (8 cm3).

measuring centimeter cube

4. What is the volume of the cuboid below?

measuring volume of cuboid

Each layer in the cuboid above has 4 × 3 = 12 cubes

Since there are 2 layers in the cuboid, there are
2 × 12 = 24 cubes altogether.

Each of the 24 cubes has a volume of 1 cm3.
So, the volume of the cuboid is 24 × 1 cm3 = 24 cm3.

Volume of a cuboid  =  length  ×  breadth  ×  height

Applying this formula in the example above, we get:

Volume of the given cuboid
= 4 cm × 3 cm × 2 cm
= 24 cm3

5. What is the volume of the cube below?

measuring volume of cube

A cube is a cuboid with the same length, breadth and height.

Volume of a cube
=  length  ×  breadth  ×  height
=  length  ×  length  ×  length

Volume of the given cube
=  5 cm  ×  5 cm  ×  5 cm
=  125 cm3

6. Calculate the volume of a cuboid-shaped crate that measures 3 m by 2 m by 1.7 m.

volume word problems

Volume of the crate
=  3 m  ×  2 m  ×  1.7 m
=  10.2 m3

The volume of the crate is 10.2 m3.