GEAR UP FOR LIFE

MATH MENTOR: Measuring volume
 

Volume in the English System

Volume is the measure of how much a container can hold.

How much air does a house contain? How much space does it take up?  How much sugar does a sugar cube hold? The answer to those questions express volume.   

We measure volume in cubic terms. That's  because to get volume, we need to measure 3 dimensions: height, depth, and width.

It might be easier to think of a cube with 3 dimensions. If a cube is 1 foot high, 1 foot wide, and 1 foot deep, we say that its volume is 3 cubic feet.

A big sugar cube that is inch high, 1 inch wide, and 1 inch deep holds 3 cubic inches (3cu in) of sugar.

To measure the volume of a cube or similar rectangular shape, use the following formula.

Formula: HEIGHT X DEPTH x WIDTH.

The answer is always a cubic term, like cubic foot (cu ft), or cubic yard (cu yd) or even cubic mile (cu mi).

 

If the area is 1 foot in all dimensions, you would have 1 cubic foot, or cu ft .

HEIGHT X DEPTH x WIDTH
In this figure you have 3 cubes. Each one is 1 cubic foot.

1 cu ft  X 3 cubes = 3 cu ft

HEIGHT X DEPTH x WIDTH

If an area measures 12 ft long, 10 ft wide and 8 ft high, it takes up 960 cu ft of space and holds that much space or air.

10 ft X 12 Ft X 8 ft = 960 cu ft
HEIGHT X DEPTH x WIDTH

You Try It!

Fill in the missing expressions:

EXAMPLE:  
8 ft X 9 ft X 11 ft 6,336 cu ft

 

6 ft X 12 ft X 7 ft     
5 in X 5 in X 3 in
8 mi X 9 mi X 11 mi
15 ft X 9 ft X 8 ft

To measure huge amounts of material, you would use miles instead of inches, feet and yards. To fill an area for a building foundation with dirt or gravel, you would measure in cubic yards. To fill a pool, you would estimate amounts in cubic gallons. However, to measure the amount of water in an ocean, you would have to express the amount of water in cubic miles, using the same formulas that you practiced above.

What if you wanted to measure small amounts of liquid?

Click on the Math Mentor learn about measuring liquid volume.-->>