Units of Volume
The fundamental unit for measuring volume is the cubic meter.
There are also other units for measuring large and small quantities of volume:
| cubic kilometer | km3 | 1,000,000,000 m3 |
| hectometer cubic | hm3 | 1,000,000m3 |
| decameter cubic | dam3 | 1,000 m3 |
| cubic meter | m3 | 1 m3 |
| cubic decimeter | dm3 | 0.001 m3 |
| cubic centimeter | cm3 | 0.000001 m3 |
| cubic millimeter | mm3 | 0.000000001 m3 |
Note that each unit is 1,000 times larger than the previous.
Therefore, the problem of converting units to other units becomes an issue of multiplying or dividing the unit by one followed by as many trios of zeros as there are places between them.
1.36 Hm3 
m3
In this case, multiply (because the Hm3 is greater than the m3) the unit by one followed by six zeros, since there are two places between both units.
1.36 · 1,000,000 = 1,360,000 m3
15,000 mm3 cm3
In this case, divide (because the mm3 is smaller than the cm3) by one followed by three zeros, since there is one place between both units.
15,000 : 1,000 = 15 cm3
Examples
Relationship between Units of Capacity, Volume and Mass
There is a direct relationship between volume and capacity. 1 litre is the capacity that contains a cubic receptacle of 1 dm of space; that is to say, the capacity contained in a volume of 1 dm3.
There is also a relationship between volume and the mass of water. 1 g equals 1 cm³ of pure water at 4° C.
| Capacity | Volume | Mass (of water) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 kl | 1 m³ | 1 t |
| 1 l | 1 dm3 | 1 kg |
| 1 ml | 1 cm³ | 1 g |
Examples
Convert to liters:
23.2 m3 =
= 23,200 dm3 = 13,200 l
0.07 m3 =
= 70 dm3 = 70 l
5.2 dm3 =
= 5.2 l
8,800 cm3 =
= 8.8 dm3 = 8.8 l
