Measuring

Capacity
 The capacity of a container is the amount of liquid it
can hold. Volume and capacity are related in the metric
system. A container that can hold one cubic centimeter
of water has a capacity of one millimeter.
In the metric system, the liter is defined as the volume
of a cubic decimeter. In other words, liter is the capacity
of a cube that is 1 decimetre long, 1 decimeter wide, and
1 decimeter high. The water in the liter container will fit
exactly into the box with 10 cm length, 10 cm width,
and 10 cm height. One liter, 1 cubic decimeter and
1 000 cubic centimeters represent the same volume.
1 L = 1 𝒅𝒎𝟑 = 𝟏 𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒄𝒎𝟑
A cubic meter (𝑚3 ) is used to measure large
volumes. Our water consumptions are measured in
cubic meters. One cubic meter = 1.3 cubic yards
(yd.3 ). Extremely large quantities of liquids would
be measured in terms of kiloliter. A kiloliter is
equivalent to 1 000 liters.
Symbol Word Meaning
kL kiloliter 1 000 L
hL hectoliter 100 L
daL dekaliter 10 L
L liter 1L
dL deciliter 0.1 L
cL centiliter 0.01 L
mL milliliter 0.001 L
RULE:
Two rules are used to change metric units.
1. To change from a larger unit to smaller unit (moving to
the right in the diagram), multiply by a power of 10.
Thus, move the decimal point in the given quantity one
place to the right for each smaller unit until the decimal
unit is reached.
You can think of this as moving the decimal point one
place to the right for each step to the right.
 2. To change from a smaller unit to a larger unit
(moving to the left in the diagram), divide by a power of
10. Thus, move the decimal point in the given quantity
one place to the left for each larger unit until the decimal
unit is reached.
You can think of this as moving the decimal point one
place to the left for each step to the left.
Example 1.) Complete the following:
a. 0.24 kL = _____ L b. 500 dL = ____mL

Try it!
Complete the following.
a. 235 L = ______hL b. 55 cL = ______ kL
 The chart below shows how the customary units of
capacity are related.
Volume in Cubic Units Customary Units: Capacity
Capacity 8 fluid ounces (fl. oz.) = 1 cup
1 cubic yard about 200 (c)
gallons 2 c = 1 pint (pt.)
1 cubic foot about 7.48 2 pt. = 1 quart (qt.)
gallons
4 qt. = 1 gallon (gal.)
231 cubic about 1 gallon
inches 1 liter (L) ≈ 1.0567 quarts (qt.)
1 𝑚3 = 1 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑚3 1 𝑓𝑡.3 = 1,728𝑖𝑛.3
1 𝑖𝑛.3 = 35.3 𝑓𝑡.3 1 𝑖𝑛.3 = 16.4𝑐𝑚3
1 gal. = 3.79 L 1 cup = 16 tablespoons
1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons
1 mL = 1 cc
Example 2.) Complete the following.
a. 50 qt. = _______ gal. b. 1.25 gal. = ______ c
Try it!
a. 5 qt. = _____ pt. b. 10 pt. = _____ fl. oz.
Example 3.) A person breathes 105 gal. of air in one
hour. How many quarts of air does a person breathe in
one minute?
Try it!
A person breathes 105 gal. of air in one hour. How
many quarts of air does a person breathe in 10 minutes?
Metric Conversion Factors (Volume)
Metric Conversion Factors (Volume)
 Assessment
Answer the following.
1.) 25 gal. = _____ L
2.) 65 cubic meters = _______ cubic yards
3.) 150 𝑑𝑚3 = _____𝐿
4.) 500 mL = _____ cc
5.) 65 tsp. = _______mL
6.) 120 gal. = ______𝒚𝒅.𝟑
7.) 35.6 c = _______ gal.
8.) 100 mL = ______ fl. oz.
9.) 5 c = _____L
10.) 20 tsp. = ______ tbsp.