What is volume?

Volume is the amount of space a 3D shape takes up.

We measure volume in cubic centimetres (cm3) or cubic metres (m3).

A cubic cm block takes up 1 cubic cm. This is written as 1 cm³.

You can work out the volume of a shape by multiplying height × width × depth.

If the shape is made of cubic cm blocks, you can count the cubes to find the shape's volume.

Jacob has nine one centimetre cubes and builds a cuboid that measures 3cm by 3cm by 1cm.

He makes two further cuboids the same size as this first one and stacks the three cuboids on top of one another as shown to make a cube.

The cube measures 3cm by 3cm by 3cm.

How do we find the volume of the large cube?

There are nine cubes on each layer and there are three layers.

9 x 3 = 27

so Jacob has used 27 centimetre cubes to make the larger cube.

This can also be calculated by multiplying:

• 3 (the number of cubes along one edge) by
• 3 (the number of cubes along another edge) by
• 3 (the large cube is three cubes high).

If the volume of each small cube is 1cm³ then the volume of the larger cube is 27cm³.