Box Volume Calculator
Volume of a rectangular box from length, width, and height.
Input sheet
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Shipping cartons, aquariums, storage bins, and rooms are all rectangular boxes, and their volume is the simplest in solid geometry: just the three dimensions multiplied together.
How it works
Volume is length × width × height.
Volume is length times width times height because you are stacking layers — each layer is length × width, and there are 'height' many of them. Surface area sums the six faces, which matters for material, paint, or wrapping.
This tool also reports the surface area and the longest edge, useful for checking whether an object fits or how much material a box needs.
Volume = length × width × height; surface area = 2 × (L×W + L×H + W×H)
Worked examples
A box measuring 8 × 5 × 4. → 160 cubic units
8 × 5 × 4 = 160; surface area is 2 × (40 + 32 + 20) = 184.
An aquarium 24 × 12 × 16 inches. → 4,608 cubic inches
24 × 12 × 16 = 4,608 cubic inches, roughly 20 US gallons at 231 cubic inches per gallon.
Tips & gotchas
- Use inside dimensions for capacity and outside dimensions for shipping or footprint.
- Convert cubic inches to US gallons by dividing by 231; cubic feet to gallons by multiplying by 7.48.
- All three dimensions must share the same unit or the volume will be wrong.
FAQ
Does it matter which dimension I call length, width, or height?
Not for volume — multiplication is order-independent, so the product is the same regardless of labeling.
How do I find the volume of an irregular container?
Break it into rectangular sections, compute each, and add. Or measure by water displacement if the shape is too complex.
What is the difference between volume and surface area?
Volume is the space inside (cubic units); surface area is the total area of the outer faces (square units). One sizes capacity, the other sizes material.
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