Capacity
Space or quantity of matter that a container can hold.
In the international system, the unit of measure for capacity is the litre.
A measurement of capacity is a number that expresses how much a container holds.
Example
The edge of this cube measures 1 centimetre (1 cm). Its volume is 1 cubic centimetre (1 cm3). Its capacity is 1 millilitre (1 ml), because: 1 cubic centimetre is equivalent to 1 millilitre. Therefore, it can contain 1 millilitre of water. The edge of another cube measures 1 decimetre (1 dm). Its volume is 1 cubic decimetre (1 dm3). Its capacity is 1 litre (1 L), because: 1 cubic decimetre is equivalent to 1 litre. Therefore, it can contain 1 litre of water.NOTATIONS AND EQUIVALENTS
The unit of measurement of the capacity of a container is the litre (L or l when there is no confusion possible with the digit 1). The litre is the capacity of a container that has a volume of 1 cubic decimetre.| Name | Symbol | Correspondence (volume) | Name | Symbol | Correspondence (volume) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| litre | L | dm³ | ||||
| decalitre | dal | decilitre | dl | |||
| hectolitre | hl | centilitre | cl | |||
| kilolitre | kl | m³ | millilitre | ml | cm³ | |
| megalitre | Ml | dam³ | microlitre | µl | mm³ | |
| gigalitre | Gl | hm³ | nanolitre | nl |