Definition

# foot cubed (cubic foot)

Part of the IT standards and organizations glossary:

The foot cubed, also called the cubic foot, is the unit of volume in the English foot-pound-second ( fps ) system. The symbol for foot/feet cubed is ft 3 . Less formally, cubic foot/feet is sometimes abbreviated cu ft.

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• material density

Material density, more often referred to simply...

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It is important to understand that volume is proportional to the cube of the linear dimension. Thus, if all linear dimensions are tripled, the volume becomes 27 times (3 3 ) as great; if all linear dimensions are cut to 1/12, the volume becomes 1/1,728 (1/12 3 ) as great. A volume of 1 ft 3 is therefore equal to 1/27 yard cubed (1/27 yd 3 ) or 1,728 inches cubed (1,728 in 3 ).

When converting between feet cubed and metric units of volume such as the meter cubed (m 3 ) or the centimeter cubed (cm 3 ), the linear-unit conversion factor must be cubed. For example, 1 m is approximately 3.281 ft; therefore 1 m 3 = 3.281 3 ft 3 = 35.3 ft 3 (approximately). Conversely, 1 ft is approximately 0.3048 m; therefore 1 ft 3 = 0.3048 3 m 3 = 0.0283 m 3 (approximately).

Also see volume , International System of Units ( SI ), and Table of Physical Units .

This was last updated in March 2011
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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• ##### material density

- Material density, more often referred to simply as density, is a quantitative expression of the amount of mass contained per unit volume. (WhatIs.com)

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