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Volume formulas

Need a volume formulas within reach? Print it for the wall, then hand off to the practice sheets below.

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Volume formulas — free printable reference chart

Reference chart

Volume formulas

s = 4

Cube

s × s × s

4 × 4 × 4 = 64

l = 5h = 3w = 2

Box

l × w × h

5 × 3 × 2 = 30

base 12height 5

Prism

Base area × height

12 × 5 = 60

r = 3h = 10

Cylinder

π × r × r × h

3.14 × 9 × 10 = 283

r = 3h = 9

Cone

π × r × r × h ÷ 3

254 ÷ 3 ≈ 85

r = 3π ≈ 3.14

Sphere

4 ÷ 3 × π × r³

1.33 × 3.14 × 27 ≈ 113

Volume is how much fits inside, counted in cubes — so the answer is cu cm or cu in. Every one of these is really the area of the base, repeated all the way up.

Math PicnicFree printable math charts · mathpicnic.com

What's on this chart

Volume and surface area are asked about the same solids using the same edge lengths, and a child will confidently answer one when the question asked the other. That is why they are two sheets here rather than one. Decide the question first — am I filling this, or wrapping it? — and the formula follows; the surface area chart is the companion to this one, drawn from the same six solids in the same order.

Why this chart helps

Drawing the solids matters more here than anywhere else on the shelf. A box is three numbers, and which one is the height depends entirely on how the box is sitting — something a diagram settles in a second and a sentence cannot settle at all. The faces turned away from the reader are shaded a shade deeper, so a drawing reads as a solid rather than as a hexagon with lines in it.