This cubic yard vs. tons will teach you how to get the cost of any material you need in yards if you have the price in tons and not yards. All you need to know is the density of the material.
You no longer need to worry if the vendor sells in tons, yet you need a particular number of cubic yards. People buying materials such as sand, gravel, ready mix concrete, and so on will find this post helpful.
Contents
Scenario
A vendor sells screened sand at $15 per ton, and your project needs 100 cubic yards of sand. How much will buying sand cost you?
Find out the density of the material
Begin by determining the density of the specific material you want to buy. You can quickly get the specific gravity or density of almost any material online. For instance, here are densities of some common materials.
- Sand density = 1,520 kg/m3
- Gravel density = 1442 kg/m3
- Concrete = 2,400kg/ m3
- Pea gravel = 1788kg/m3
Get cubic meter to cubic yard conversion
As you know, density is measured in kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m3), grams per cubic (g/cm3), or yard per cubic pound (lb/ft³), and not tons per cubic yards.
Therefore, we need to do a little conversion, i.e., get our conversion factor of cubic meters to cubic yards.
1 meter = 1.09361 yards
1 cubic meter =1.09361 x 1.09361 W x 1.09361 (Length x Width x Height) = 1.308 cubic yard
Therefore, to convert cubic meters to cubic yards, multiply by 1.308. On the other hand, if you want to convert cubic yard to cubic meters, divide by 1.308
Get the number of tons per cubic yard
Let’s assume you are working with gravel with a density of 1,520 kg/m3. As you know, a ton = 1000kg.
- 1 cubic meter of gravel = 1520 kg = 1.52 tons. However, since 1 m3= 1.308 cubic yards, it is true to say that:
1 m3 of gravel = 1.308 cubic yards of gravel = 1.520 tons, and to know how many tons you are one cubic yard of gravel, divide by 1.308, i.e.,
- 1.308 cubic yard = 1.52 tons
Therefore
- 1 cubic yard = 1.52 tons / 1.308 = 1.162 tons.
As a rule, to convert a cubic meter to a cubic yard, divide by 1.308. On the other hand, if you want to get cubic meters starting with cubic yards, multiply by 1.308
Find the cost
If you have the price in tons, you can then calculate the price per cubic yard. For instance, gravel goes for $15 to $75 per ton, and its density is 1,520.
We will assume your project requires 50 cubic yards and get the cost.
From above, 1 cubic yard of gravel = 1.162 tons.
Therefore, 50 cubic yards = 50x1.162 tons = 58.1 tons.
The price unit is $15 to $75 per ton, meaning if you need 58.1 tons, the total cost will be as follows:
- Low price = 5 x 58.1 = $871.5
- High price = 25 x 58.1 = $4357.5
Another example
Sand price per ton is $5 to $25, and you need 100 yards of sand for your home improvement project. How much will it cost?
Density of sand = 1.442kg/m3
1 cubic meter of sand = 1.422 tons. Since 1 cubic meter = 1.308 cubic yards, it is correct to say that:
- 1 cubic meter of sand = 1.308 cubic yards of sand = 1.422 tons.
Therefore, 1 cubic yard of sand = 1.422/1.308 = 1.0872 tons (as usual, we divide density in tons by 1.308).
Since your project needs 100 cubic yards, you will have to buy 1.0872x 100 = 108.72 tons.
We are told that 1 ton of sand costs $5 to $25. Therefore, the total costs will be as below:
- Low cost = 108.72x 5 = $543.6
- High price = 108.72 x 25 = $2718
Don’t forget waste factor
During any project, there is always a small waste factor that may range from 2.5-5% of the total amount of material you need.
In your final calculation of the amount of material you need, add 2.5-5% of the exact amount to give some allowance for wastages.
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