Volume Formulas

Since a cube has sides that are all the same size, this is a very easy volume formula to remember. We are going to find the area of the bottom of the cube and multiply by the height. So, that's length x width x height. Since the length, width and height are all the same dimensions, we can cube the length of the side. Take a look at the example.

A rectangular prism is your basic box, that is not a cube. In order to find the volume, we will multiply the length x width x height. These dimensions may all be different, so there is no shortcut for this one!

To find the volume of a cylinder, we must find the area of the base and multiply that by the height. Remember that the area of a circle (the base is a circle) is Pi x radius ².

The formulas for the following shapes are pretty clear. (To be honest, I am still looking for graphics to be able to show an example! Word does not offer these 3-dimensional shapes!) Click here if you need more help with these formulas.