AI Tutor
If you pour liquid into a plastic cube that measures 1 cm1\text{ cm} on every side, exactly how much water fits inside?
In 1795, French scientists designed the metric system so that solid space measurements and liquid capacity measurements fit together like puzzle pieces.

The Small Cube: Milliliters and Cubic Centimeters

A cubic centimeter (written as cm3\text{cm}^3) is the volume of a solid cube measuring 1 cm1\text{ cm} long, 1 cm1\text{ cm} wide, and 1 cm1\text{ cm} high.
This tiny cube holds exactly one milliliter (mL\text{mL}) of liquid, meaning 1 cm3=1 mL1\text{ cm}^3 = 1\text{ mL}.
What happens if we scale this tiny cube up to hold an entire bottle of water?

The Big Cube: Liters and Cubic Decimeters

A decimeter (dm\text{dm}) is equal to 10 cm10\text{ cm}.
When you build a cube that is 1 dm1\text{ dm} on each edge, its volume is 1 dm×1 dm×1 dm=1 dm31\text{ dm} \times 1\text{ dm} \times 1\text{ dm} = 1\text{ dm}^3.
Since each edge is 10 cm10\text{ cm}, the total space inside is 10×10×10=1,000 cm310 \times 10 \times 10 = 1{,}000\text{ cm}^3.
Because 1,000 cm3=1,000 mL1{,}000\text{ cm}^3 = 1{,}000\text{ mL}, and 1,000 mL=1 L1{,}000\text{ mL} = 1\text{ L}, a 1 dm31\text{ dm}^3 container holds exactly 1 L1\text{ L}.