Cubic metre

One cubic metre of concrete (representing the world annual production per inhabitant)

The cubic metre (US spelling: cubic meter, symbol: m3) is the SI derived unit of volume. It is the volume of a cube with edges one metre in length. An alternative name, which allowed a different usage with metric prefixes, was the stère. Another alternative name, not widely used any more, is the kilolitre.

Contents

Conversions

1 cubic metre is equivalent to:

A cubic metre of pure water at the temperature of maximum density (3.98 °C) and standard atmospheric pressure (101.325 kPa) has a mass of 1,000 kg, or one tonne. At 0 °C, the freezing point of water, it is slightly less, 999.972 kilograms.

It is sometimes abbreviated to cu m, m3, m^3 or m**3 when superscript characters or markup cannot be used (e.g. in some typewritten documents and postings in Usenet newsgroups).

Abbreviated CBM in the freight business and MTQ (or numeric code 49) in international trade.

Multiples and submultiples

See 1 E-3 m³ for a comparison with other volumes.

Multiples

Cubic decametre
the volume of a cube of side length one decametre (10 m)
equal to a megalitre
1 dam3 = 1,000 m3 = 1 ML
Cubic hectometre
the volume of a cube of side length one hectometre (100 m)
equal to a gigalitre
1 hm3 = 1,000,000 m3 = 1 GL
Cubic kilometre
the volume of a cube of side length one kilometre (1,000 m)
equal to a teralitre
1 km3 = 1,000,000,000 m3 = 1 TL

Submultiples

Cubic decimetre
the volume of a cube of side length one decimetre (0.1 m)
equal to a litre
1 dm3 = 0.001 m3 = 1 L
Cubic centimetre[3]
the volume of a cube of side length one centimetre (0.01 m)
equal to a millilitre
1 cm3 = 0.000001 m3 = 1 mL
Cubic millimetre
the volume of a cube of side length one millimetre (0.001 m)
equal to a microlitre
1 mm3 = 0.000000001 m3 = 1 µL

Notes

  1. ↑ From 1901 to 1964 the litre was defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water at 4°C and 760 millimetres of mercury pressure. During this time, a litre was about 1.000028 dm3. In 1964 the original definition was reverted to.
  2. ↑ http://www.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/chapter4/table6.html
  3. ↑ The cubic centimetre is the base unit of volume of the CGS system of units. The colloquial abbreviations "cc" and "ccm" are not SI but are common in some contexts such as cooking, engine displacement and medicine.
SI derived unit cubic metre, from base unit metre Orders of magnitude for volume Conversion of units for volume
1 E-36 m3 = 1 pm3 1 E-27 m3 = 1 nm3 1 E-18 m3 = 1 µm3 1 E-9 m3 = 1 mm3 1 E0 m3 = 1 m3 1 E+9 m3 = 1 km3 1 E+18 m3 = 1 Mm3  1 E+27 m3 =  1 Gm3
10 pm3 10 nm3 10 µm3 10 mm3 10 m3 10 km3 10 Mm3 10 Gm3
100 pm3 100 nm3 100 µm3 100 mm3 100 m3 100 km3 100 Mm³ 100 Gm³
1,000 pm3 1,000 nm3 1,000 µm3 1,000 mm3 = 1 cm3 1,000 m³ = 1 dam3 1,000 km3 1,000 Mm3 1,000 Gm3
10,000 pm3 10,000 nm3 10,000 µm3 10,000 mm3 = 10 cm3 10,000 m3 = 10 dam3 10,000 km3 10,000 Mm3 10,000 Gm3
100,000 pm3 100,000 nm3 100,000 µm3 100,000 mm3 = 100 cm3 100,000 m3 = 100 dam3 100,000 km3 100,000 Mm3
1,000,000 pm3 1,000,000 nm3 1,000,000 µm3 1,000,000 mm3 = 1 dm3 1,000,000 m3 = 1 hm3 1,000,000 km3 1,000,000 Mm3 1 E+40 m3
10,000,000 pm3 10,000,000 nm3 10,000,000 µm3 10,000,000 mm3 = 10 dm3 10,000,000 m³ = 10 hm3 10,000,000 km3 10,000,000 Mm3 1 E+50 m3
100,000,000 pm3 100,000,000 nm3 100,000,000 µm3 100,000,000 mm3 = 100 dm3 100,000,000 m3 = 100 hm3 100,000,000 km3 100,000,000 Mm3 1 E+80 m3
1 E-6 m3 = 1 cm3 = 1 mL  • 1 E-5 m3 = 10 cm3 = 1 cL • 1 E-4 m3 = 100 cm3 = 1 dL  • 1 E-3 m3 = 1 dm3 = 1 L ; • 1 E-2 m3 = 10 dm3 = 1 daL  • 1 E-1 m3 = 100 dm3 = 1 hL  • 1 E0 m3 = 1 m3 = 1 kL