Volume is the amount of space that a liquid, like water, takes up in a container.
The objects below can hold liquids up to a certain volume.
To know how much liquid we can fill these containers with, we use units of volume.
Units of volume are volumes that every agrees on.
In the last lesson, we learned about the units of volume in the US customary system. Now, let's learn about the metric system units of volume.
Most countries around the world use the metric system.
The base unit of volume in the metric system is liter.
The symbol for liter is either L or l.
The other common unit of volume in the metric system is milliliter.
1 liter = 1,000 milliliters
"Milli" means "one thousandth".
This means that if you divide a liter into 1,000 parts, each part is a milliliter.
It can be written as mL or ml.
We never write ML or Ml. ❎
We also never add a "period" at the end of the symbol, unless the symbol is at the end of a sentence. ❎
Liter is used for larger volumes of liquid.
Milliliter is used for smaller volumes of liquid.
This is what a liter of bottled water looks like:
This is a liter of milk.
There are 1,000 ml in 1 liter.
20 drops of water is 1 milliliter.
1 ml can fill less than half of a teaspoon.
As you can see, a milliliter is a very small unit of volume.
So, when should you use milliliter?
You can use it when measuring liquid ingredients for cooking.
Or you can also use ml for medicine dosages.
What about liters?
You can see that milk, soda, and juices are sold in liters.
Great job learning about the metric units of volume.
Now, try the practice to help you remember these units.