Cube Volume Calculator
Enter the side length of a cube to get its volume, surface area and diagonals, drawn to scale. Click the side on the drawing to change it.
Dimensions
CubeResult
Volume of a cube
A cube has every edge the same length, so its volume is that length cubed and its surface area is six identical square faces. The face diagonal crosses one square; the space diagonal runs corner to opposite corner through the solid.
Editing on the drawing
Click the dimension on the figure, type a new side length and press Enter. The cube is redrawn to scale and every property updates.
How to find the volume of a cube
A cube is the most regular of the solids: one measurement, the edge length, fixes everything about it. Every face is the same square, every angle is a right angle, and every diagonal of a given kind is the same length. That makes the volume and surface area especially simple to work out.
The formulas
Volume is the edge length multiplied by itself three times. Surface area is the area of one face, times the six faces.
Worked example
Take a cube with an edge of 60.
Cube the edge length.
Six identical square faces.
Corner to opposite corner, through the solid.
What else the calculator returns
Alongside volume and surface area you get the face diagonal (a√2), the space diagonal (a√3) and the total length of all twelve edges. Switch units or decimal places at any time; the figure and the numbers update together.
Where it comes up
Cube volumes turn up in packing and storage, estimating material for solid blocks, dice and bins, and as the unit cell in crystallography. Because a cube is the reference shape for "cubic" units, it is also the cleanest way to picture what a cubic metre or cubic inch actually is.
Frequently asked questions
How do you find the volume of a cube?
Cube the side length: V = a³. A cube 60 units on each edge holds 60³ = 216,000 cubic units.
What is the surface area of a cube?
A cube has six identical square faces, so the surface area is A = 6a² — six times the area of one face.
How do I find the side length from the volume?
Take the cube root of the volume: a = ∛V. For a volume of 216,000, the edge is ∛216,000 = 60.
What is the difference between the face diagonal and the space diagonal?
The face diagonal crosses a single square face and equals a√2. The space diagonal runs from one corner to the opposite corner through the inside of the cube and equals a√3, so it is longer.
Is volume the same as capacity?
Volume is the space the solid occupies; capacity is how much it can hold. For a thin-walled cubic container the two are nearly the same, but a solid cube has no meaningful capacity.