Volume

A rectangular solid whose length, breadth and height are all equal is
called a cube. The space occupied by a cube is called its volume. If
each edge of the cube is 1cm in length, then its volume is 1cm³. 1cm³
is pronounced 1 cubic centimetre. The volume may be found by
multiplying the length by the breadth by the height (l x b x h).

Surface area of a rectangular solid

On the left we have a rectangular solid with
three faces visible. There is another face with
the same area as face A. Similarly, there is a
second face with the same area as C. If B is the
top of the box, then the bottom of the box will
have the same area as B. The surface area of
the box is twice A plus twice B plus twice C, or
2lb+2lh+2bh.

Capacity – the litre

The capacity of a container is the amount of liquid it can hold. The
most commonly used metric measure of capacity is the litre. Milk is
generally sold in 1 litre cartons. The most common domestic central
heating oil tank has a capacity of about 1350 litres. A cube with the
edge of 10cm contains 1 litre. 1000 cm³ = 1 litre. Very small amounts
of liquid are measured in millilitres. 1 litre = 1000 ml.

Set difference
In chapter 1 we learned about the union and intersection of two sets,
subsets, the universal set and the compliment of a set. In this section
we introduce a new term called set difference. To illustrate a set
difference we take two sets A and B. If we remove from set A all the
elements which are in B, we have A less B. A less B is denoted by A\B.
A\B is the set of elements of A which are not in B. Set difference can
also be illustrated by Venn diagrams.