You know 1 m = 100 cm. So it's tempting to write 1 m³ = 100 cm³. It feels right, and it's wildly wrong — out by a factor of ten thousand. Here's why the brain trips, and how to never trip again.
Why It's a Million, Not a Hundred
A cube has three directions. To go from a metre-cube to centimetre-cubes you swap the unit on every edge: 100 cm across, 100 cm deep, 100 cm tall. So the count is 100 × 100 × 100 = 1 000 000. The length factor (100) got cubed along with the shape. That's why 1 m³ = 1 000 000 cm³.
The Same Trap, Smaller, with Area
It bites in 2-D too. 1 m² = 10 000 cm² (that's 100², not 100). So three factors live side by side: length × 100, area × 100² = 10 000, volume × 100³ = 1 000 000. In the toy, tap each one — only the cubed factor is right for a volume. Count the little number on the unit (², ³) and let it tell you the power.
Volume Is Not Capacity
One more wording trap. Volume is how much space a solid takes up, in cm³ or m³. Capacity is how much a container can hold, in mL, L or kL. They're joined by 1 cm³ = 1 mL and 1 m³ = 1000 L, so the same box has both — but a question asking for "capacity" wants litres, and one asking for "volume" usually wants cubic units. Read which word they used.