Metric System: Volume

Volume

• Volume is the amount of space an object occupies.

• There are different ways to find the volume of objects.

Volume of Regular Shapes

• If the object is a regular shape such as a cube or cylinder:

multiply the area of the base by the height

L x w x h

Volume of Liquids

• To find the volume of liquids, use a graduated cylinder

• The unit for small amounts of liquid volume is the milliliter (ml)

• 1000 milliliters (ml) = 1 liter (L)

• It takes about 3.8 liters to make 1 gallon. This means a liter is just barely larger than a quart.

Graduated Cylinders

• This is what a graduated cylinder looks like:

Meniscus

• A meniscus is the curved wave line that the liquid makes inside the graduated cylinder

• Always read the bottom of the meniscus wave

Using a Graduated Cylinder

1. Find the meniscus and look at the numbers above and below

2. Subtract the large number from the small number

3. Divide by the number of lines (5 or 10)

4. This will tell you how much each line is worth