Capacity and volume

The capacity of a container is the amount of liquid it can hold. This is measured in litres or millilitres. The volume of a solid is given in cubic units such as cubic metres or cubic centimetres. In the same way as there is a problem with the size of the standard unit in length, so there is a corresponding problem with the units for capacity and volume. The capacity of a container refers to the amount of liquid which it is capable of holding when it is full. So a litre jug is a jug which will hold one litre of water when it is full. Informally, making different shapes with Multilink and counting the number of cubes in each is a good way to compare their volumes. A prism is a solid shape which has a uniform cross-section and whose ends are parallel.