Volume and Capacity

What is volume or capacity? In math, capacity is the amount a container will hold when full

Capacity is generally measured in milliliters, liters, or kiloliters.

If the length, width, and height of this three-dimensional container, measures 5 cm, 10 cm, and 20 cm respectively, the volume is 5 cm × 10 cm × 20 cm = 1000 cm³

By definition, 1000 cm³ = 1 liter

So, the container above has a volume or capacity of 1 liter. This container is grossly or approximately the same size and has the same capacity as a large bottle of soda

Milli is a prefix which refers to a division by 1000 or a multiplication by 0.001.

So, 1 milliliter = 1 liter/1000 = 1000 cm³/1000 = 1 cm³

1 milliliter is grossly the dimension of a container with length, width, and height of 1 cm, 1 cm, and 1 cm respectively since 1 cm × 1 cm × 1 cm = 1 cm³

In real life this could be compared to the capacity of a dose of medicine

Kilo is prefix which refers to a multiplication by 1000, so 1 kiloliter = 1 liter × 1000 = 1000 liters

1 kiloliter is approximately the capacity of a king-size water bed

As you may have noticed, kiloliters are used to measure huge quantity.


To discover Volume measurements we can use different equipment to measure capacity like:

• Measuring jug:

• Measuring spoons:

• Beakers:

• Measuring cylinders: