The surface area applies to how much space a SOLID objects occupies while volume is the space that a substance (solid, liquid, gas, or plasma) or shape occupies or contains, so volume can be anything.
<em>Finding the volume of a figure means finding how much of a unit can fit within that figure. You can find the volume of a figure by multiplying L x W x H. Finding the surface area of a figure means how much area there is on a figure. You can do this by finding each side's area, then add the side's areas together. (If you are finding surface area of a cube, it is 6(L x W). For a rectangular prism, it is a(L x W) + b(L x W).) Basically, the math behind the answer is what makes these two things different.</em>
