Units of capacity

The base unit for measuring capacity is the litre (l). The other common unit for measuring capacity is the millilitre (ml). These are the two most common units of measure for capacity. 

In addition to the litre and millilitre, there are some other units used to measure capacity namely the decilitre and kilolitre.

Test your knowledge retention from the other courses covering units of measure by completing the following activity. [Edit: this link to the activity is not necessary]

Note

It's important to remember that the prefix meanings are related to the base unit e.g. 1 ml is equal to one-thousandth of a litre. The prefix milli meaning one-thousandth. Remembering the metric prefixes can help you to remember how the different units of measurement are related.

For example:

• 1 millilitre = 0.001 litre (since milli = one-thousandth)

The question that can be asked is WHEN do you measure in millilitres and when do you measure in litres? Watch the YouTube video below which helps answer this question.

Math Grizz. (2020). Metric units of capacity (Standard YouTube licence)

Remember the golden rule: 

• If you want to convert from a smaller to larger unit, you need to multiply
• If you want to convert from a larger to smaller unit, you need to divide