Volume of a Rectangular Prism

Volume of a Rectangular Prism

Using the definition of volume, we can calculate the sum of unit cubes for any object with a closed space. In the case of a rectangular prism, a rectangular prism has a defined length, width and height.

In the simulation below, you can input an arbitrary length, width and height of your choice. To calculate the volume you can count each individual unit cubes to get the volume of a rectangular prism. Although we would get the correct answer, this is not practical as a rectangular prism with a large enough length, width, and height would take a long time to count up all the individual unit cubes each of length, width and height 1m by 1m by 1m.

Length:

Width:

Height:

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An equation we can create therefore to calculate the volume of a rectangular prism is length times width times height.

\[ V = l \times w \times h \]

Since a rectangular prism is an enclosed space in three dimensions, that would mean that the units would be meters cubed.

\[ m^3 \]

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