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Imagine filling a moving box completely with identical 1-inch wooden blocks. How many blocks could you pack inside without leaving any empty gaps?
That total count of unit cubes is what we call volume — the amount of 3D space an object occupies.

Building the Formula

A rectangular prism is a solid 3D shape bounded by six flat rectangular faces meeting at right angles.
To find how many unit cubes fit inside, we first lay a single flat layer along the bottom of length ll and width ww, which gives l×wl \times w cubes.
Then, we stack identical layers upward until we reach the full height hh, giving us the formula V=l×w×hV = l \times w \times h.
Notice that because we multiply three lengths measured in linear units like centimeters (cm\text{cm}), the resulting volume is measured in cubic units like cubic centimeters (cm3\text{cm}^3).
How do we apply this formula to solve real-world problems with standard measurements?

Worked Example: Calculating Volume

Let's find the volume of an aquarium that measures 8 cm8\text{ cm} long, 5 cm5\text{ cm} wide, and 4 cm4\text{ cm} high.
Substitute the dimensions into the formula: V=8 cm×5 cm×4 cm=160 cm3V = 8\text{ cm} \times 5\text{ cm} \times 4\text{ cm} = 160\text{ cm}^3