How to Factor Cubed Numbers

The volume of a cube equals one side multiplied by itself twice.

A cubed number is a number that has been multiplied by itself twice. Another term for factoring a cubed number is finding the "cube root" of that number. Factoring a cubed number is an assignment that you might encounter in a middle school, high school or college math class. Calculating the cube root of a number will help you to figure out the dimensions of a cubic figure, since the volume of a cube is calculated by multiplying a side of the figure by itself twice.

Instructions

1. Write down the number.

2. Estimate a value that would equal this number if it were multiplied by itself twice. Some cubed numbers are simple to factor if they are the product of a whole number cubed. For instance, 8 can be factored to 2 cubed or "2^3." If the number isn't a perfect cube, you'll have to make an educated guess. For instance, 30 isn't a perfect cube. The number 3 cubed is 27, and 4 cubed is 64. This means that 30 factored as a cube must be a little more than three. So, you might guess 3.2.

3. Check your guess for accuracy by multiplying the number by itself twice. In this case, you would multiply 3.2 times 3.2 times 3.2 to get 32.768.

4. Adjust your guesses and check them until you arrive at the solution. In this example, you would find that factoring the number 30 as a cube would result in the answer 3.107.

References

• Math Is Fun: Cubed Number
• Math Warehouse: Cube Root Calculator