Volume & Capacity
Maths: Year 3 & 4 National Curriculum, topic 2.3.1
Volume
Volume and capacity are measurements of how much space there is. Metric measurements of volume and capacity are based on the unit of measurement called the litre.
Volume and capacity
- Volume is a measurement of how much space a substance (like liquid or air) takes up.
- Capacity is a measurement of how much a container can hold.
Units of measurement
- Millilitre and litre are units of volume and capacity.
- We write the units after the number, using lower case letters.
- Use a curly Ɩ so it does not look like a 1.
- 5 Ɩ (five litres).
- 20 mƖ (twenty millilitres).
Relations between units
- Millilitres are smaller and litres are bigger.
- There are 1,000 millilitres in 1 litre.
- You should use millilitres to measure small amounts of substances, like the amount of drink in a can.
- You should use litres to measure large amounts of substances, like the amount of petrol in a car.
Measuring volume
- We usually measure volume using special containers with measurements showing millilitres or litres.
- Spoons, jugs and measuring cylinders are all tools for measuring volume.
- Scales often have divisions between the main numbers.
- Divisions between the litres might be hundreds of millilitres or fractions of a litre.
Test yourself on Volume & Capacity
Which of the following is NOT used to measure volume?
How many millilitres are there in a litre?