Cubic Meter (m³)

Metric (SI)Current unit

The SI derived unit of volume: 1,000 liters. Used for water supply, gas, concrete and shipping space.

1 cubic meter = 1,000 liters (exactly).

About the cubic meter

When the metric system was set up, the cube whose edge is one meter became its natural large unit of volume. A cubic meter also went by other names: kiloliter, now rarely used, and stere, still applied to stacked firewood. In modern SI it is the coherent derived unit of volume, and the liter is a convenience unit defined from it as one thousandth of a cubic meter.

A cubic meter is large by everyday standards. It holds 1,000 liters, and pure water at its densest weighs almost exactly one tonne in that space, which is how the metric tonne and the cubic meter ended up so conveniently paired. It is the unit of choice for water supply, gas, timber, concrete and shipping space, where freight is often quoted in CBM. For a picture, about 6.29 oil barrels or 264 US gallons fit in one, and an Olympic swimming pool, at least 2 meters deep, holds roughly 2,500 of them.

Sources: Wikipedia: Cubic metre; Wikipedia: Olympic-size swimming pool; NIST Guide to the SI, Chapter 5: units outside the SI

Cubic Meter conversion chart

1 cubic meter expressed in every other volume unit:

More Metric (SI) units

• liter (volume)
• milliliter (volume)
• cubic centimeter (volume)
• cubic millimeter (volume)
• microliter (volume)
• centiliter (volume)
• deciliter (volume)
• hectoliter (volume)
• meter (length)
• kilometer (length)
• centimeter (length)
• millimeter (length)
• micrometer (length)
• nanometer (length)
• picometer (length)
• decimeter (length)

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