What is the difference between area and volume?
Volume and area are some terms used in measurements. They have a wide usage not only in mathematics but also day to day life activities.
The main difference between area and volume is that area is the amount of space occupied by a two-dimensional flat object in a plane whereas Volume is defined as the space occupied by the three-dimensional object.
The lesson provides some insights into the core difference between area and volume with examples as well as the use of comparison tables.
Read More: Difference between Length and Height
What Is Area?
The area is the region covered by an object and it normally occurs in two dimensions. There are several ways on how to find out the area of an object.
There are so many reasons why people tend to calculate the area of an object in daily life such as finding the size of a carpet that can fit in a room.
The international system of the unit of area is square meter. Here are some formulas on how to calculate the area of different objects:
- Area of Square = side × side
- Area of Rectangle = l × w
- Area of Parallelogram = b × h
- Area of Triangle = (b × h) / 2
- Area of Circle = πr2
Note l is the length, w is the width, h is the height, b is the base and r is the radius.
What Is Volume?
Volume is the amount of space enclosed inside an object. It normally occurs in three dimensions. The international system of a unit of volume is the cubic meter.
The volume of an object helps to determine the capacity. Here are some of the main formulas used to calculate volume:
- The volume of Rectangular Prism = l × w × h
- The volume of Cube = a3
- The volume of Sphere = (4/3) × π × r3
- The volume of Cylinder = π × r2 × h
- Volume of Cone = π × r2 × (h/3)
Where l is the length, w is the width, h is the height, a is an edge, r is the radius and h is the height
Comparison Chart: Area Vs Volume
| Basic Terms | Area | Volume |
| Definition | Refers to the region covered by the object | Refer to the amount of space occupied by an object |
| Dimensions | Two-dimension | Three dimension |
| Shape | Plain figure | Solid object |
| SI Unit | Square meter | Cubic meter |
| Objected Measured | Square, rectangle, triangle | Sphere, cylinder, cone, cube |
Core Difference between Area and Volume
- The area is calculated in two dimensions while volume in three dimension
- The area is the region covered by an object while volume is the amount of space occupied by an object
- Area deals with plain figures while volume solid figures
- The SI unit of area is square meter while volume is the cubic meter
- Example of shapes with two dimensions are square and length meant for the area while those of volume are cube, sphere and cylinder
Comparison Video
Summary
The two mathematical terms vary in terms of usage and measurement. Understanding the core difference between area and volume is essential for academic and day to day life.
More Sources and References
- https://www.britannica.com/science/length-area-and-volume
- https://study.com/academy/lesson/differentiating-between-area-volume.html