Volume with Unit Cubes

Build rectangular prisms from unit cubes and see how length, width, and height connect to volume. Highlight layers, count cubes, and compare two prisms side by side. All computation runs in your browser.

Try an example

cubes
cubes
cubes

Highlight a layer to count cubes

3 × 4 × 2 = 24 unit cubes

Volume Formula

Reference Guide

What is Volume?

Volume is the amount of space inside a 3D shape. We measure volume in cubic units, which are small cubes that each take up one unit of space.

To find the volume of a rectangular prism, you can fill it with unit cubes and count them all.

Counting by Layers

Instead of counting every cube, find how many cubes fit in one layer. Then multiply by the number of layers.

cubes per layer×number of layers=volume\text{cubes per layer} \times \text{number of layers} = \text{volume}

For a 3 × 4 × 2 prism, one layer has 3 × 4 = 12 cubes. Two layers give 12 × 2 = 24 cubes.

The Volume Formula

The formula for the volume of a rectangular prism is

V=l×w×hV = l \times w \times h

where l is length, w is width, and h is height. Each is measured in the same units.

Comparing Volumes

Two prisms can have the same volume but look very different. For example, both of these have 24 cubic units.

2×3×4=24and1×4×6=242 \times 3 \times 4 = 24 \quad\text{and}\quad 1 \times 4 \times 6 = 24

The shape changes, but the total space inside stays the same.