MEASURING VOLUME
1. The volume of an object is the amount of space it takes up. For example, an inflated balloon takes up more space than an empty balloon. That means that a balloon that is blown up has more volume than one that hasn’t been blown up.
2. Volume can also show capacity – how much a container can hold.
A bathtub has more volume than a coffee cup.
3. Volume is also measured using metric units such as liters (L),
centiliters (cL), and milliliters (mL).
milliliter – 1/1000 of a liter
centiliter – 1/100 of a liter
liter – slightly larger than a quart
4. You have probably bought Coke in a 2-liter bottle.
5. A graduated cylinder is used to measure liquid volumes. There are lines on the cylinder similar to the lines on a measuring cup.
6. You can also find the volume of a solid.
The volume of a regular-shaped solid can be found by multiplying the height X the width X the length.
5 cm
2 cm
1 cm
The volume of this object would be 10 cm 3.
© Ellen Gabor, 2004