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6th grade (Illustrative Mathematics)
Course: 6th grade (Illustrative Mathematics) > Unit 4
Lesson 5: Lesson 15: Volume of prismsVolume with cubes of fractional side lengths
Before, we've found volume by seeing how many cubes with 1-unit side lengths would fit into an object. Find out what happens when we find volume with smaller cubes.
What is volume?
Volume is the amount of -dimensional space an object occupies. We measure volume in cubic units.
For example, the rectangular prism below has a volume of cubic units because it is made up of unit cubes.
We can also find the volume of a rectangular prism by multiplying the side lengths.
That works well when we can fill the prism completely with unit cubes. How could we find volume when a prism has fractional side lengths and spaces too small to fill with unit cubes?
Filling a unit cube with smaller cubes
Let's try starting with smaller cubes.
Filling a rectangular prism with smaller cubes
Let's consider the following rectangular prism.
Before continuing, take a minute to tell a friend how you know the number of dice it would take to fill the prism.
Why is the number of dice different from the volume?
Finding volume with cubes with fractional side lengths
Now we know different ways to find the volume of a prism with whole number side lengths:
- Find the number of cubes of some size that would fit it and multiply by the volume per cube.
- Multiply the side lengths.
Either method gives us the same volume. Do you have another method? Tell us about it below in the comments.
Prisms with fractional side lengths
Suppose we fill the following prism with cubes with side lengths of .
How would you find the number of cubes that fill the prism?
Summary
Both strategies of finding volume work with rectangular prisms with fractional side lengths, too! Describe those strategies to a friend.
Do you have another way of finding volume when the rectangular prism has fractional side lengths? Tell us about it in the comments.
Want to join the conversation?
- This can be confusing at time, so here's some tips!
Anything to the power of 3, is cubed, so it's multiplied by itself 3 times.
Anytime you have mixed numbers, just turn everything into a fraction (remember to simplify!) and multiply by the least common multiple (LCM)!
Area can get annoying, but think of it like your bedroom! By measuring two of your walls by your floor, you can see how many cubes could fill your room! (2 x 3 x 10 = 60)(22 votes)- wow, thanks so much! this explanation made the mixed numbers way easier :0 i think i'll still need help from my classmates or something though lol those are hard(9 votes)
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- To find the volume in cubic centimeters, of a cube with fractional side lengths, simply cube the denominator of the fraction:
the volume of a cubic centimeter, in 1/2 centimeter side length cubes, would be =8 because we multiply the denominator (2) times itself 3 times for length, width, height.
So, the volume of a 1/2 centimeter cube will be 1/8 of the 1 cube centimeter.
The same will go for the volume of a cube centimeter if we calculate in 1/4 centimeter cubes: multiply the denominator of the fraction times three to get the length, width, height, like this: 4 x 4 x 4 = 64.
So, the volume of a 1/4 centimeter cube will be 1/64 of the 1 cube centimeter.
Example:
We want to know how many 1/2 centimeter cubes we need to find the volume of a rectangle that is 3(length) x 5(width) x 1(height), so we multiply 3 and 5 and 1 by 2 to work with 1/2 centimeter cubes.
Now we have 6(length) x 10(width) x 2(height), so we multiply: 6 x 10 = 60 and x 2 = 120.
The result will be x8 the original number of the volume in cube centimeters, and likewise, the original number in cube centimeters will be 1/8 of the 1/2 cube centimeter result.
I really hope this was helpful, good luck!👍🥳(8 votes)