How do you find the volume something?

Answer 1

The method of finding volume depends entirely on the shape of the 3-dimensional space occupied by the substance or object. The volume of a hexahedron such as a cube or a rectangular shaped box is found by simply multiplying the length, width, and height together, and the product will be the volume in cubic units. For example, a box measuring 12 inches long, 9 inches wide, and 16 inches high has a volume of 12 in x 9 in x 16 in = 1,728 in3 (which is the same as 1 cubic foot). With the metric system, a box 10 cm x 5 cm x 20 cm has a volume of 1,000 cm3 (cubic centimeters), which is the same as 1,000 ml (milliliters) or 1 liter.

The volume of any other regular 3-dimensional geometric figure has its specific formula. The volume of a sphere, for instance, is 1/6 x pi x diameter3, and for a pyramid is 1/3 x base x height.

The volume of an irregularly-shaped object is often impossible to calculate mathematically. An alternate method of finding its volume is to immerse it in water and measure the volume of water displaced.