Measuring three-dimensional space
Volume tells you how much space an object occupies or how much a container can hold, measured in cubic units or litres. It matters whenever you fill, pour, pack, or ship something — from working out how much water a tank holds to whether a parcel fits within a courier's size limit.
How to use the volume calculator
Choose a 3D shape — cube, box, cylinder, sphere, or cone — and enter its dimensions. Keep every measurement in the same unit before you calculate. The result is in cubic units; remember that 1,000 cubic centimetres equals exactly one litre, and one cubic metre equals 1,000 litres.
The formulas
A cube is side³; a box (rectangular prism) is length × width × height. A cylinder is π × r² × h — the area of its circular base times its height. A sphere is (4/3) × π × r³, and a cone holds exactly one-third of the cylinder it would fit inside: (1/3) × π × r² × h.
Why the exponents matter
Because these formulas cube or square the dimensions, small size changes have big volume effects. Doubling a sphere's radius multiplies its volume by eight, not two. A standard drink can (radius ≈ 3.3 cm, height ≈ 12.2 cm) holds around 415 mL, which is a handy real-world check on the cylinder formula.