Calculate volume of rectangular prisms using storage room scenarios!
Scenario: You're helping organize a storage room at school. The room is a rectangular prism that's 4 meters long, 3 meters wide, and 2.5 meters tall. You need to know how much space is available for storage (volume). Can you help calculate the volume of the storage room?
Volume is the amount of space inside a 3D shape. It tells us how much the shape can hold or how much space it takes up in three dimensions. We measure volume in cubic units like cubic meters (m³), cubic centimeters (cm³), or cubic feet (ft³).
Volume = Length × Width × Height
For rectangular prisms
How many cubic blocks would fit inside the shape
Room space, water in a tank, storage capacity
Let's calculate the volume of our 4m × 3m × 2.5m storage room:
Given: Length = 4m, Width = 3m, Height = 2.5m
Our storage room dimensions
Volume = Length × Width × Height
Formula for rectangular prism volume
Volume = 4m × 3m × 2.5m
Substitute the values
Volume = 12m² × 2.5m = 30m³
Calculate step by step
Answer: 30 cubic meters
This is the storage capacity!
Cubic units are units of measurement for volume. They represent the space inside a cube that is 1 unit long, 1 unit wide, and 1 unit tall. The "cubic" part means we're measuring in three dimensions.
Cubic Meter (m³): 1m × 1m × 1m
Large volumes like rooms
Cubic Centimeter (cm³): 1cm × 1cm × 1cm
Small volumes like boxes
Cubic Foot (ft³): 1ft × 1ft × 1ft
Medium volumes like refrigerators
Like counting how many unit cubes fit inside
Volume answers must include the "cubic" part
A shipping box is 2 meters long, 1.5 meters wide, and 1 meter tall. What is its volume?
Volume = 2m × 1.5m × 1m
Substitute dimensions
Volume = 3m³
Calculate the volume
Answer: 3 cubic meters
An aquarium is 60cm long, 30cm wide, and 40cm tall. How much water can it hold?
Volume = 60cm × 30cm × 40cm
Substitute dimensions
Volume = 72,000cm³
Calculate the volume
Answer: 72,000 cubic centimeters