What does cubed mean in maths? A cube number is a number that is the product of multiplying a number by itself and then by itself again. Cube numbers can also be represented visually, too.
What does cubed mean in maths?
A cube number is a number that is the product of multiplying a number by itself and then by itself again. This is what we mean when we say a value has been cubed. Cube numbers can also be represented visually as diagrams of cubes, where the width, depth, and length each represent the cubed number.
How are cube numbers different from square numbers?
A square number is a number multiplied by itself once, whereas a cube number is one multiplied by itself before the process is repeated once more.
This might sound a little complicated, but don’t worry; it’s pretty simple. Let’s take a look in more detail:
When we multiply five by itself, we get 25. So, the square of 5 is 25. Finding the cube of 5 involves just one extra step. Once we’ve worked out the square, we need to multiply it by the original number again. In this case, the cube of 5 is 25 × 5 = 125. This can also be expressed as 5³ = 125.
More examples of cube numbers
As we’ve explained, a cube number is a result of multiplying a whole number three times. Here we have another example of this:
In the above image, we can see that 8 is an example of a cube number. It’s the result of 2 being multiplied by itself twice.
Cube numbers in real-life
While cube numbers are great for helping learners to understand number relationships and patterns, they have real-life applications, too. For instance, if we want to know the volume of a cubic object, such as a container, we need to cube the value of one of its sides.
By contrast, if a painter needs to know the large surface of an object and the volume of a thing already, they can work backward and find the cube root. By doing this, they’ll know how much paint they need.
What is a perfect cube number?
When we talk about a ‘perfect’ cube number, we mean a cube number created by multiplying a whole number, or integer, twice. The most common cube numbers children learn at KS2 will be ‘perfect.’ Here are the first four perfect cube numbers:
- 2 × 2 × 2 =8
- 3 × 3 × 3 =27
- 4 × 4 × 4 =64
- 5 × 5 × 5 =125
How do you cube a number?
In arithmetic, the cube of a number is its third power. To cube a number, the number is multiplied by itself twice = n × n × n. This can also be written like n3.
