Square feet are used to measure the surface area of an object e.g. the surface of a table that is 3 feet wide and 4 feet long has a surface area of 4 x 3 = 12 square feet. Cubic feet are used to measure the volume an object takes up e.g. the volume of a chest freezer that is 4 feet long, 3 feet high and 2 feet deep is 4 x 3 x 2 = 24 cubic feet.
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A square foot is a unit of area that measures the flat surface of a two-dimensional shape, while a cubic foot is a unit of volume that measures the space within a three-dimensional shape. A foot square foot represents a square that is 1 foot by 1 foot in size, while a cubic foot represents a cube that is 1 foot on each side.
Cubic Feet is a different measure than Square Feet. Square Feet is measurement of Area such as the amount of carpet needed to cover a floor. Cubic Feet is the measurement of Volume, such as the amount of air contained in a room. You can't compare the two.
A square foot is a 2-dimensional shape with four equal sides that all measure one foot in length. A cubic foot is a 3-dimensional box shape that contains six equal surfaces that are all square feet. A square foot is a 1ft by 1ft shape, while a cubic foot is 1ft by 1ft by 1ft shape
OK, let's look at 2 objects.
A piece of paper and a box.
There are only 2 dimensions to the paper, length and width.
However, the box has *3* dimensions: length, width and depth!
(or you can look at it as length, width, and height. your preference)
Square feet (or square inches, square yards... any square "unit of measurement") is the product of the length and the width. (for squares, and rectangular objects - there are different formulas for other shapes)
For example, let's say our piece of paper is 3 feet wide, by 10 feet long.
We can find the AREA of the paper by multiplying 3x10, or 30 square feet of area.
(Area [of a square or rectangle]= length x width)
Think of area as the measurement of "how many 1 by 1 squares will fit ON the surface of a flat object". Think triangles, squares, circles. Anything 2 dimensional, with only width and length.
Cubic feet (or cubic inches... etc) is a measurement of how much VOLUME an object has.
For example, let's say our box is 10 inches long, by 5 inches wide and 3 inches deep (or high).
We want to know "how many 1 by 1 by 1 cubes can I fit INTO this object ", that is... it's VOLUME. Think 3 dimensional objects, such as pyramids, boxes, globes. Anything with length, width, and depth.
Similarly to how we found area, volume is just the product of the length x width x depth. (Similarly to the area formula, there are different volume formulas for other shapes, like pyramids or globes.)
(volume [of a box, or cube] = length x width x depth)
volume = 10 x 5 x 3
= 50 x 3
= 150 cubic inches
So remember, area is measured in square units and is useful for flat things.
Volume is measured in cubic units and is useful for non-flat things, like our box.
A foot is a measure of length - and is twelve inches long
A square foot is a measure of area - a space measuring 12 inches wide and 12 inches long is one square foot in area.
A cubic foot is a measure of volume - an object 12 inches wide, 12 inches long and 12 inches high has a volume of one cubit foot.
Square feet is the flat surface (eg floor area)
Cubic feet includes height.
because with the square feet its length and width, only 2 dimensions
and cubic feet is for volume where you multiply length, width and height, that's three dimensions.
"Cubic foot" is a unit of volume or capacity, as of a box, a bottle, or a balloon.
"Square foot" is a unit of area or coverage, as of a bedroom floor or a garden plot.
The two units have different dimensions, and are used to measure different types of quantities. Neither one can be converted into the other one, and they can't be directly compared. That would be like asking: "Which is larger, a month or a gallon ?"
They are different. Square is a flat area, like the size of a carpet. Cubic is a VOLUME, like the shape of a box. They are not comparable.
A meter is several times as long as a foot. Thus a square meter is several time as large as a square foot.
Since a cubic foot is a measurement of volume (three-dimensional space) and a square foot is a measurement of area (two-dimensional space), there is no direct conversion between the two. A cubic foot is equivalent to 1,728 cubic inches or 0.037037 cubic yards.
There are 144 square inches in a square foot and 1.728 cubic inches in a cubic foot. So you have 7,776 square inches and that would give you 7,776 cubic inches. That would be 4.5 cubic feet.
A square yard is a measurement in 2 dimensions, length and width. Since there is no depth measurement in a square yard, therefore, a square yard of water has no weight. However, "...a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, and a cubic foot of water weighs about 62.4 pounds, so 62.4 x 27 gives you...about 1685 pounds." (http://saluqi.home.netcom.com/ticklinx1.htm)
There is no direct conversion between cubic feet and square feet because they are measuring different things - volume and area, respectively. Cubic feet measure the volume of a three-dimensional space, while square feet measure the area of a two-dimensional surface.
To convert dollars per square foot to dollars per cubic yard, you need to consider the dimensionality difference. Since square feet are 2-dimensional measurements and cubic yards are 3-dimensional measurements, you would need to know the height or thickness of the object to make an accurate conversion. Once you have the height or thickness, you can use the conversion factor to calculate the cost per cubic yard.