Distance Education for Elementary Schools

Self- Instructional Materials

Volume of a Cube and
Skill:Rectangular Prism

Department of Education
BUREAU OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
2ND Floor Bonifacio , Building
Dep Ed Complex, Meralco Avenue
Pasig City
 VOLUME OF A CUBE AND RECTANGULAR PRISM

Objective: Find the volume of a cube or rectangular prism

Review

Find the area of the following figures. Write the answer on your notebook.

1) 2) 3)
6m
10 m
9m

4m

4) 5)
4m 3m

4m 7m

Study and Learn

Before we proceed to explore the volume of a rectangular prism, let us see what
a prism is.

Prism is a solid with two bases that are parallel and identical polygons.

These are the examples of a prism.

bases bases
bases

rectangular prism square prism or cube triangular prism

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 Are the two bases in each solid parallel?
Are the bases identical polygon?

Now that you know what a prism is, we will proceed to our lesson.
Read the following problem.

A box is 10 cm long, 5 cm wide and 3 cm tall. What is its volume?

Let us visualize the problem.

A cube has 3 dimensions:
length, width and height.
3 cm - cubic It is the unit used for
height centimetre measuring volume. Volume
3
1 cm
is expressed in cubic units.
5 cm 10 cm The number of cubic units
width length
needed to make or fill a
solid figure is called the
volume. We write cubic
units: unit3.

The figure above is a box whose dimensions are 10 cm long, 5 cm wide and 3
cm high.

To find the volume, we need to know the number of cubes in the whole figure.

We know that the bottom of the prism is 10 centimetres long and 5 centimetres
wide and that it is also 3 cubes high.

To find the total number of centimeter cubes,

We multiply to find the number of cubes on the bottom layer.

Then multiply by the number of layers

We multiply 10 by 5 by 3.

10 x 5 x 3 = 150 centimetre cubes

length width height

number of cubes number

on bottom layer of layers

The volume of the box is 150 cm3.

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So, the formula in finding the volume of a rectangular prism is:

Volume = length x width x height

In symbols: V = l x w x h, we may also use the general formula

V = b x h, where b stands for the area of the base

Therefore, we can use the formula, V = l x w x h or V = b x h in finding the

volume of a rectangular prism.

Let us take a look at some more examples.

Study the figures below.

1) 2) 4m
3)
3 cm

2 cm 5 cm
6m 3 cm
3 cm 3 cm
10 m

V=? V=? V=?

V=lxwxh V=bxh V=lxwxh

= 5 cm x 3 cm x 2 cm = (10 m x 6 m) x 4m = 3 cm x 3 cm x 3 cm
= 30 cm3 = 60 m2 x 4 m = 27 cm3
= 240 m3

The solid figure in numbers 1 and 2 are both rectangular prisms.

The third figure is also a prism but since the length, width and height are all the
same, it has a special name. It is called a cube.

If the length, width and height of a cube are all equal, we can substitute s for
length, width and height and form a specific formula for finding the volume.

V=lxwxh

s s s

V=sxsxs V = s3 (the formula for the volume of a cube)

Example:

Find the volume of a cube whose side is 4 dm.

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Solution:

V = s3
= (4 dm)3
= (4 dm) (4 dm) (4 dm)
= (16 dm2)(4 dm)
V = 64 dm3

Note: Some use e for edge instead of s for side. So you may also encounter the
formula V = e3 for cube. It is important to remember to express volume in cubic
units.

Try These

A. Find the volume of the following prisms. Write the answers in your notebook.

1) 2) 3)
7 cm
7 cm
5 cm
12 cm 4 cm 8 cm
20.5 cm
6 cm

4) 5)
8 cm

8 cm 14 cm
14 cm
8 cm
14 cm

B. Solve each problem. Write your solution on your notebook and encircle your
final answer.

1. A storage box is 50 cm by 30 cm by 40 cm. What is the volume of the

box?
2. Find the volume of a cube whose side is 4.3 dm.

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 Wrap Up

Prism – a solid with two bases that are parallel and

identical polygons. Ex. Rectangular prism, square prism,
triangular prism.
Cubic unit – the unit used to find the volume of a solid
Volume – the number of cubic units needed to fill a solid
figure.
The formula for finding the volume of:

Rectangular prism: V = l x w x h
Square prism or cube: V = s3 or V = e3

The General Volume Formula for any prism is:

V = b x h, where b stands for the area of the base

On Your Own

A. Find the volume of the following prism. Write your answer on your notebook.

1) 2) 3)
5 cm 2 cm 10.5 cm
2 cm
15 cm
10.5 cm
9 cm 10.5 cm

3 cm

11 cm 8 cm
4) 5)

15 cm
31 cm

15 cm 15 cm

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B. Find the volume of each prism. Write your answer on your notebook.

1) 2) 3)
5 cm
12 cm 5 cm
8 cm 5 cm
12 cm 5 cm
2 cm
5 cm

4) 5)

7 cm
15 cm
7 cm 4 cm
7 cm
12 cm

Check your answer with the answer key.

If you get…

8-10 Excellent! You may now proceed to the next lesson.

5-7 You need to review the processes you missed.
0-4 You need to repeat the whole process. Ask your teacher or elder to
help you.

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Key to Correction
COMPREHENSION OF VOLUME

REVIEW

1) 54 m2
2) 25 m2
3) 40 m2
4) 16 m2
5) 21 m2

TRY THESE

A. B.
1) 180 cm3 1) 60 000 cm3
2) 574 cm3 2) 79.507 dm3
3) 336 cm3
4) 512 cm3
5) 2744 cm3

ON YOUR OWN

A. B.
1) 135 cm3 1) 120 cm3
2) 60 cm3 2) 480 cm3
3) 1157.625 cm3 3) 125 cm3
4) 3375 cm3 4) 343 cm3
5) 2728 cm3 5) 720 cm3