BEHIND THE NUMBERS

Rectangular volume

The volume of a rectangular prism is length × width × height. Keep all three dimensions in the same unit; metre inputs give cubic metres.

V = l × w × h

For a 5 m × 4 m × 0.1 m slab, the volume is 2 m³. A waste allowance changes the order quantity, not the geometric volume. To include 10% extra, multiply 2 by 1.1 to obtain 2.2 m³.

Convert all dimensions before multiplying. A depth of 10 centimetres is 0.1 metres, not 10 metres. Irregular shapes need subdivision or a different model.

Calculate a slab ↗