Cubic Meters to Cubic Feet (m³ to ft³)

1 cubic meter equals 35.31466672 cubic feet (rounded).

1 cubic meter = 35.31466672 cubic feet

How to convert cubic meters to cubic feet

To convert cubic meters to cubic feet, multiply the number of cubic meters by 35.31466672. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply cubic feet by 0.02831684659 (rounded).

cubic feet = cubic meters × 35.31466672

Example: 10 cubic meters = 353.1466672 cubic feet.

Pints, quarts, gallons and fluid ounces differ between the US and the UK. Units are labeled 'US' or 'imperial' to avoid confusion.

About these units

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.

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.

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

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

Cubic Foot (ft³)

US & ImperialCurrent unit

Exactly 28.316846592 liters (1,728 cubic inches). Used for refrigerator capacity, gas volume and shipping.

Cubic foot grew from the foot itself, a length unit with ancient origins, cubed into a volume of 1,728 cubic inches. Since the international foot was fixed at exactly 0.3048 meters, it equals exactly 28.316846592 liters. It sits at the center of the Anglo-American cubic system, a cube you could build from twelve-inch rulers, and it is about 7.48 US gallons or 6.23 imperial gallons.

In practice the cubic foot is the language of capacity and flow. Natural gas and household water are often billed per hundred cubic feet, written CCF, while gas reserves are reported in thousands and trillions of cubic feet. Rivers are measured in cubic feet per second, called cusecs, and fans and air compressors are rated in cubic feet per minute. To picture one, imagine a box a foot on each side holding a bit under seven and a half gallon jugs of water.

1 cubic foot = 28.31684659 liters (approximately).

Sources: Wikipedia: Cubic foot; NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8: conversion factors for volume

Related conversions

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