Volume Calculator

Volume Calculator online

Calculate the volume of a box-shaped space or object from length, width and height — in whatever unit you measured in — for tanks, containers, rooms and shipping estimates.

How it works

The calculation is Volume = Length × Width × Height. Like the area page, this tool is unit-agnostic: metres in gives cubic metres, feet in gives cubic feet, centimetres in gives cubic centimetres. All three inputs must share one unit before you multiply.

Worked example

A storage container 2.5 m long, 2 m wide, and 3 m high: volume = 2.5 × 2 × 3 = 15 m³. As a water tank that equals 15 × 1,000 = 15,000 litres. In feet, a pit 6 ft × 4 ft × 3 ft gives 6 × 4 × 3 = 72 ft³, which is 72 ÷ 27 ≈ 2.67 yd³ or about 72 × 7.4805 ≈ 538.6 US gallons.

Units

Key equivalents: 1 m³ = 1,000 litres = 35.3147 ft³ = 1.308 yd³ = 264.17 US gallons; 1 ft³ = 7.4805 US gallons = 28.3168 litres; 1 yd³ = 27 ft³ = 0.7646 m³. For concrete or excavation work, feed this cubic-metre result into the waste and ordering logic on the dedicated concrete and excavation pages.

Practical tips

• Measure internal dimensions for capacity (tank, skip, room) and external dimensions for bulk (shipping, spoil heaps); mixing the two is a common source of error.
• For tapered or irregular pits, average the top and bottom areas first, then multiply by depth — a straight L × W × H figure overstates a battered excavation.
• Keep one decimal place more than you think you need during the maths, and round only the final purchase quantity.
• Use the output as a geometric starting point. Structural loads, liquid surge, ventilation, and access rules all sit outside a volume figure, so check the relevant standards or a qualified professional before building or filling anything significant.

Edge cases and limitations

• Usable volume is smaller than box volume. Tanks cannot be filled to the brim and containers lose space to structure: allow a freeboard (5–10% of depth on open tanks) and remember a shipping container's internal dimensions run about 10–15 cm inside its nominal size on every axis — a "33 m³" 20 ft container loads roughly 28–30 m³ of real cargo.
• Round and tapered shapes. This page is a box. A cylinder is π × r² × height (about 78.5% of its bounding box), and a tapered bin averages its top and bottom areas times depth. Using the box figure for a round silo overstates capacity by more than a fifth.
• Unit consistency is the classic error. All three inputs must share one unit: a 250 cm × 1.2 m × 90 cm box entered as typed gives 270 of nothing. Convert first (250 cm = 2.5 m, 90 cm = 0.9 m → 2.7 m³), then multiply.
• Volume is not weight. A cubic metre of water is a tonne; of dry sand about 1.6 tonnes; of gravel roughly 1.55. Floor and vehicle load decisions need the density step after this page, not instead of it.

Privacy and browser processing

The calculation runs entirely in your browser — the dimensions you enter are never uploaded.

Frequently asked questions

How many litres does a 2 × 1 × 1 m tank hold?

Volume = 2 × 1 × 1 = 2 m³, and 1 m³ = 1,000 litres, so the tank holds 2,000 litres gross. Allow for freeboard — filled to 90% it stores 1,800 litres usable.

How do I convert cubic feet to cubic yards?

Divide by 27. The 6 × 4 × 3 ft example gives 72 ft³, and 72 ÷ 27 ≈ 2.67 yd³. To go metric, multiply ft³ by 0.0283168: 72 × 0.0283168 ≈ 2.04 m³.

Why does the tool say cubic units instead of m³?

Because the inputs have no fixed unit, the answer inherits yours: metres produce m³, feet produce ft³, inches produce in³. If you need labelled construction quantities in m³ with a waste allowance, use the concrete-volume or excavation pages instead.

Can I size a concrete pour with this page?

You can get the neat volume — for instance 5 × 3 × 0.15 m gives 2.25 m³ — but then add waste yourself (2.25 × 1.05 = 2.3625 m³ at 5%). The concrete-volume page applies that step automatically and defaults the waste field to 5%, so it is the faster route for pours.

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