How much is a cubic yard?
A cubic yard is a unit of volume. One cubic yard is defined as the volume of a cube with 1 yd long edges. One cubic yard is denoted by 1 yd³ or 1 cu yd. The question What is the yardage of this object? means the same as How many 1 yd³ cubes can fit inside this object?
Where do we use cubic yards? Cubic yards are often used when we want to dig a hole in the ground and fill it with an amount of material, such as gravel, sand, or mulch, due to the scale of this operation being well-suited to cubic yards. On the other hand, you may need to find the size of a structure or a building. In either case, we are interested in the volume of material needed or just the occupied space. The good thing is that you can think of any shape, and this cubic yard calculator will help you obtain a precise result!
How do I convert cubic feet to cubic yards?
One cubic foot, ft³ or cu ft, is the volume of a cube with sides 1 ft long. Since 1 yd = 3 ft, we can calculate how many cubic feet are in a cubic yard:
- A cubic yard is:
1 yd³ = 1 yd × 1 yd × 1 yd - Convert yards to feet:
1 yd³ = 3 ft × 3 ft × 3 ft - Multiply all quantities:
1 yd³ = 27 ft³
So the conversion factor from cubic yards to cubic feet is 27, and it is 1/27 if you’re converting from cubic feet to cubic yards.
How to use cubic yard calculator?
The tool is intuitive and very simple to use:
- Think about the shape of the structure you want to build or the hole you want to dig.
- Choose the appropriate option or the one that matches your plan the most (if you aren’t sure, the calculator will provide you with small pictures to help you visualize all shapes).
- Input all necessary dimensions.
- The volume in cubic yards will show up immediately!
Yardage calculator in practice
Imagine you want to prepare the ground for your dream garden with walking alleys, a pond, and a pyramidal sculpture. So, how do you calculate the cubic yards of soil you have to dig, and how do you find the amount of material required for your perfect place? This is important – you don’t want to overspend on materials!
Let’s divide this process into three parts, one for each element:
- The alleys will be made out of concrete. Let’s find the yardage:
- The total distance of the paths is
320 ft, and they don’t cross one another. The desired width of the alleys is5 ft, while the desired depth is20 in. - We can find the total square footage of the paths:
320 ft × 5 ft = 1600 ft². - Convert inches into feet, 20 in × 1/12 = 12/3 ft, and multiply this by the square footage to move from square feet to cubic feet, 1600 ft² × 1 ⅔ ft = 2666 ⅔ ft³.
- It is difficult to move from square feet to cubic yards, so now that we have the cubic feet, multiply it by the conversion ratio 1/27: 2666⅔ ft³ × 1/27 = 98.77 yd³.
- With this, you can now evaluate the final price of the alleys. If you decide to use gravel instead of concrete, you can still use this result to estimate the total cost.
- The total distance of the paths is
- Let’s assume that your pond will be in the shape of a hemisphere and you have space for a circular reservoir with a circumference of
100 ft. How many cubic yards of water can you pour inside?- Find the radius:
r = 100 ft / (2 × π) = 15.92 ft. We rounded this result to two decimal places for convenience, but if you want to be more precise, feel free to use more. - Use the formula for the volume of a hemisphere:
V = 2/3 × π × r³ = 2/3 × π × 15.92³ = 8451 ft³ = 313 yd³
- Find the radius:
- You decided to create a rocky square pyramid with sides of
4 ftand a height of6.5 ft:- Estimate the area of the base (the area of a square):
4 ft × 4 ft = 16 ft². - Work out the volume:
V = 1/3 × 16 ft² × 6.5 ft = = 34.67 ft³ = 1.284 yd³.
- Estimate the area of the base (the area of a square):
As you can see, all of these values are simple to evaluate when you know the formulas. If you forget one of them, want to be sure about the outcome, or just don’t like converting between units, use this cubic yard calculator, plan your beautiful home, and you’ll have no more worries about any yardage problems in the future. You can also input the price per unit to calculate the total price of your project!
