4.8.3
Volume
Test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
Volume of 3D Shapes
We can use formulae to calculate the volume of common shapes.

Prism
- Volume = area of base × length.

Cuboid
- Remember that a cuboid is a prism with rectangular base.
- Volume = width × height × length = area of base × length.

Cylinder
- The area of a circle is πr2 so:
- V = πr2 × h
- Where h is the height of the cylinder.
Volume and Capacity

Volume and capacity
- The volume of a 3D shape is the amount of space inside it.
- The capacity is the amount of a substance that the shape could hold.

Units
- Standard units for volume are cubic metres (m3), cubic centimetres (cm3) and cubic millimetres (mm3).
- Standard units for capacity are litres (l) and millilitres (ml).
- The imperial unit for volume is gallons.

Converting between volumes
- To convert between different units of volume, write out the measure as a multiplication and convert each part separately.
1Numbers
1.1Integers
1.3Decimals
1.4Powers & Roots
1.5Set Language & Notation
1.6Percentages
1.7Ratio & Proportion
2Equations, Formulae & Identities
2.1Algebraic Manipulation
2.2Expressions & Formulae
2.3Linear Equations
2.4Quadratic Equations
2.5Proportion
3Sequences, Functions & Graphs
3.1Sequences
3.3Graphs
3.4Common Graphs
4Geometry
4.1Angles, Lines & Triangles
4.2Polygons
4.5Circle Properties
4.6Trigonometry & Pythagoras’ theorem
4.7Mensuration of 2D Shapes
4.83D Shapes & Volume
5Vectors & Transformation Geometry
6Statistics & Probability
6.1Statistical Measures
6.2Graphical Representation of Data
Jump to other topics
1Numbers
1.1Integers
1.3Decimals
1.4Powers & Roots
1.5Set Language & Notation
1.6Percentages
1.7Ratio & Proportion
2Equations, Formulae & Identities
2.1Algebraic Manipulation
2.2Expressions & Formulae
2.3Linear Equations
2.4Quadratic Equations
2.5Proportion
3Sequences, Functions & Graphs
3.1Sequences
3.3Graphs
3.4Common Graphs
4Geometry
4.1Angles, Lines & Triangles
4.2Polygons
4.5Circle Properties
4.6Trigonometry & Pythagoras’ theorem
4.7Mensuration of 2D Shapes
4.83D Shapes & Volume
5Vectors & Transformation Geometry
6Statistics & Probability
6.1Statistical Measures
6.2Graphical Representation of Data
Practice questions on Volume
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1
- 2What is the formula for the volume of a prism?Multiple choice
- 3What is the formula for the volume of a cuboid?Multiple choice
- 4What is the formula for the volume of a cylinder?Multiple choice
- 5What is 1 cm³?Multiple choice
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