General Question

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18 Answers

rebbel's avatar

Length, width, height.

elbanditoroso's avatar

There are only three dimensions, and they are interchangeable.

If I have a rectangular box lying on the longer side, then that would be the width. But if I put it on end, that would be the height.

As long as you have three numbers, it doesn’t matter which is which.

seawulf575's avatar

How about the term volume? That is the length x width x height. Adding the dimension of depth is redundant with height.

gorillapaws's avatar

I stick to x, y, z. Width, height, depth.

kritiper's avatar

Inner dimensions, outer dimensions.

zenvelo's avatar

The dimension of a box is measured in volume, either liters/dekaliters/deciliters or quarts/gallons/tablespoons.

flo's avatar

I see that the length is always the longest dimention, regardless how it is positioned. If it depends on how it’s positioned then there is no definitive answer. How is is that math? I mean 1+1 is 2 no matter what. And why does it matter if it’s a swimming pool or something else?

flo's avatar

…By the way regardless of how the box is positioned applies to _wdith_and the other thing, whatever it is.

Zaku's avatar

I would suggest that the length is not the longest if the box is taller than it is long. It might vary depending on whether you are talking to a postal clerk, or a box designer. It might also depend on whether or not the box has a lid that implies it is on top and that its sides are therefore the width and length, not the height (the measurement which ascends to the top)..

So far, rectangular boxes have been described. Some boxes are not rectangular, but perhaps you are not asking about those.

(The cat door’s measurements can be almost any size, up to the point where the box collapses and the cat just sits on the box.)

flo's avatar

I’m referring to a rectangular box by the way, or a travel bag, or whatver else you comes in a rectangular shape, which could be tall and narrow or short and wide:
https://tinyurl.com/pnwec6cr (tall and narrow )
https://tinyurl.com/rtwtj45n (short and wide)
What do you call the longest dimention? the length it seems to me.
What do you call the shortest dimention?
What do you call the ..... (whatever the 3rd term is fill in the blank) dimention?

If you leave a travel bag in standing postion, and someone else comes leaves it in lying on it’s back position, and someone else leaves it lying on it’s tummy, would that change the dimentions of the item?

Dutchess_III's avatar

Yes it would, @flo. The height becomes the length.

kritiper's avatar

Specifically, it would depend on the mechanical drawing of the box.

If the box is normally viewed sitting on what is viewed as the bottom, the longest side would be it’s length, the tall side it’s height, and it’s remaining horizontal side it’s width.

flo's avatar

’’‘The longest side would be it’s length,’’ Clear as a bell. How about the rest of it? The shortest dimention is the….and the one in between (sizewise) is called the…. regardless of who the manufacturer is or which postal clerk we are dealing with.

flo's avatar

…or whether the item is tall and narrow or short and wide.

zenvelo's avatar

@flo Did you even read the link you sent in your original post? That was a whole discussion that would have answered ALL your questions.

Dutchess_III's avatar

If it’s standing on end the longest side would be its height.

flo's avatar

@zenvelo If it were answered in the link in my OP, the blank (in the “fill in the blank” in my last posts) would have been filled with one word. Edited to add: rather, two words

flo's avatar

@zenvelo “All”? my questions? There are 2 questions.

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