77

Volume

What Is Volume?
Volume is the amount of space an object occupies. One way to
measure volume is to count the number of cubic units it would
take to fill the space inside the object.
The volume of the small cube is 1 cubic inch.

1 in.
1 in.

1 in.

It takes 8 smaller cubes to fill the space inside the larger cube,
so the volume of the larger cube is 8 cubic inches.
Volume is measured in cubic units. For example, 1 cubic inch is
written as 1 in 3, and 1 cubic meter is written as 1 m 3.
For a review of cubes, see page 330.

Check It Out
What is the volume of each shape?
1 1 cube = 1 cm 3

2 1 cube = 1 ft 3

Volume 353

Volume of a Prism
To find the volume of a prism, multiply the area (pp. 344347) of
the base, B, by the height, h.

Volume = Bh
See Formulas, page 64.

EXAMPLE Finding the Volume of a Prism

Find the volume of the rectangular prism.
The base is 14 inches long and 12 inches
wide. The height is 17 inches.

17 in.

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VOLUME

14 in.

12 in.

Find the area of the base.

base A = 14 in. 12 in.
2
= 168 in
Multiply the base and the height.
V = 168 in 2 17 in.
3
= 2,856 in
So, the volume of the prism is 2,856 cubic inches.

Check It Out
Find the volume of each shape.
3
4
8 in.
16 in.

7 in.

2 cm

9 cm
3 cm

354 HotTopics

2 in.

Volume of a Cylinder
You can use the same formula to find the volume
of a cylinder: V = Bh. Remember: The base of a
cylinder is a circle.

7 in.

The base has a radius of 2 inches. Estimating pi () at 3.14, you

will find that the area of the base is about 12.56 square inches.
Multiply the area of the base by the height to find the volume.
V = 12.56 in 2 7 in.
= 87.92 in 3
The volume of the cylinder is 87.92 cubic inches.

Check It Out
Find the volume of each cylinder. Round to the nearest
hundredth. Use 3.14 for .
8 cm
2 in.
5
6
3 cm

9 in.

Volume of a Pyramid and a Cone

1
The formula for the volume of a pyramid or a cone is V = _
Bh.
3

r
h
h

Volume 355

EXAMPLE Finding the Volume of a Pyramid

Find the volume of the pyramid. The base is 175 centimeters
long and 90 centimeters wide. The height is 200 centimeters.
h = 200 cm

175 cm

90 cm

Find the area of the base.

base A = 175 90
2
= 15,750 cm
1
Multiply the base by the height and
V=_
(15,750 200)
3
= 1,050,000
then by _1 .
3
So, the volume is 1,050,000 cubic centimeters.


+/
MRC

7
4

77

VOLUME

ON/AC

2
0

3
.

M+

To find the volume of a cone, you follow the

same procedure as above. For example, a cone
has a base with a radius of 3 centimeters and
a height of 10 centimeters. What is the
volume of the cone to the nearest tenth?

Square the radius and multiply by to find the area of the base.
Then multiply by the height and divide by 3 to find the volume.
The volume of the cone is 94.2 cubic centimeters.
Using a calculator, you would press
10
3
94.24778 .
For other volume Formulas, see page 64.

356 HotTopics

28.27433

Check It Out
Find the volume of the shapes below, rounded to the
nearest tenth.
7
8
3m

h = 20 in.
4m
19 in.
19 in.

APPLICATION

Good Night, T. Rex

Why did the dinosaurs

disappear? New evidence
from the ocean floor
points to a giant asteroid
that collided with Earth
about 65 million years ago.
The asteroid, 6 to 12 mi in diameter, hit Earth
somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. It was traveling
at a speed of thousands of miles per hour.
The collision sent billions of tons of debris into the
atmosphere. The debris rained down on the planet,
obscuring the Sun. Global temperatures plummeted.
The fossil record shows that most of the species that
were alive before the collision disappeared.
Assume the crater left by the asteroid had the shape of a
hemisphere with a diameter of 165 mi. About how many
cubic miles of debris would have been flung from the crater
into the air? See page 64 for the formula for the volume of a
sphere. See HotSolutions for the answer.

Volume 357

77

Exercises

Use the rectangular prism to answer Exercises 14.

3 cm
4 cm

10 cm

VOLUME

5. Find the volume of a rectangular prism with base

10 centimeters, width 10 centimeters, and height
8 centimeters.
6. The base of a cylinder has an area of 5 square centimeters
Its height is 7 centimeters. What is its volume?
7. Find the volume of a cylinder 8.2 meters high when its base
has a radius of 2.1 meters. Round your answer to the nearest
tenth.
8. Find the volume of a pyramid with a height of 4 inches and a
rectangular base that measures 6 inches by 3.5 inches.

77

1. How many centimeter cubes would it take to make one layer

in the bottom of the prism?
2. How many layers of centimeter cubes would you need to fill
the prism?
3. How many centimeter cubes do you need to fill the prism?
4. Each cube has a volume of 1 cubic centimeter. What is the
volume of the prism?

9. Look at the cone and the rectangular pyramid below. Which

has the greater volume and by how many cubic inches?
4 cm

8 cm
6 cm

6m
6 cm
Cylinder

Cube

12 cm

10 cm

6 cm
5 cm
Cone

5 cm

Pyramid

10. List the shapes above from the least volume to the greatest
volume.
358 HotTopics