CapacityCapacity

Section 9.6

Units ofUnits of capacitycapacity are generally used to are generally used to measure liquids. The number of gallons of measure liquids. The number of gallons of gasoline needed to fill a gas tank in a car, gasoline needed to fill a gas tank in a car, the number of cups of water needed in a the number of cups of water needed in a bread recipe, and the number of quarts of bread recipe, and the number of quarts of milk sold each day at a supermarket are all milk sold each day at a supermarket are all examples of using units of capacity.examples of using units of capacity.

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U.S. Units of CapacityU.S. Units of Capacity Unit FractionsUnit Fractions

8 fluid ounces (fl oz) 1 cup (c)

2 cups 1 pint (pt)

2 pints 1 quart (qt)

4 quarts 1 gallon (g)

8 fl oz 1 c1

1 c 8 fl oz

2 c 1pt1

1pt 2 c

2 pt 1 qt1

1 qt 2 pt

4 qt 1 gal1

1 gal 4 qt

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Capacity: Metric System of Capacity: Metric System of MeasurementMeasurement

TheThe liter liter is the basic unit of capacity in the is the basic unit of capacity in the metric system. A liter is the capacity or metric system. A liter is the capacity or volume of a cube measuring 10 centimeters volume of a cube measuring 10 centimeters on each side.on each side.

10 cm10 cm

10 cm

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The prefixes for metric units of capacity are The prefixes for metric units of capacity are the same as for metric units of length and the same as for metric units of length and mass.mass.

Metric System of Measurement

Prefix kilo hecto deka

deci centi milli

Meaning 1000

100 10

1/10 1/100

1/1000 1 milliliter (ml) 1/1000 or 0.001 L

1 centiliter (cl) 1/100 or 0.01 L

1 deciliter (dl) 1/10 or 0.1 L

1 liter (L) 1 L 1 dekaliter (dal) 10 L 1 hectoliter (hl) 100 L

1 kiloliter (kl) 1000 liters (L)

Metric Unit of Length

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As with length and mass, all units of capacity are As with length and mass, all units of capacity are powers of 10 of the liter, so converting from one unit powers of 10 of the liter, so converting from one unit of capacity to another only involves moving the of capacity to another only involves moving the decimal point.decimal point.

The two most commonly used units of The two most commonly used units of capacity in the metric system are the capacity in the metric system are the millilitermilliliter and the and the literliter..

kl hl dal L dl cl ml

StartEnd

3 units to the left

Using the listing of units of capacity, convert 5350 ml to liters. 5350 ml = 5.350 L

3 places to the left6

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