Functional Skills: Capacity

Example 1: Capacity and Volume Calculations 

Leo has two containers, $A$ and $B$, which both have a capacity of $1.5$ L.

Container $A$ is full of water and container $B$ has $200$ ml of water in it.

Leo pours half of the water from container $A$ into container $B$.

Work out the volume in container $B$, after Leo has poured the water from container $A$ into it, giving your answer in litres.

[2 marks]

First we need to convert the amount of water in container $B$ into litres:

$200$ ml $=0.2$ litres

Then calculate what half of $1.5$ litres is (volume of water in container $A$):

$1.5div2=0.75$ litres

Finally, calculate the volume in container $B$:

$0.2+0.75=0.95$ litres

Example 2: Capacity and Volume Calculations 

In a small pet shop, there are $5$ fish tanks.

$2$ tanks contain $boldsymbol{150}$ litres of water and $3$ tanks contain $boldsymbol{120}$ litres.

Calculate the total amount of water in the fish tanks.

[2 marks]

$2times150=300$ litres

$3times120=360$ litres

Then, add them up to find the total amount of water:

$300+360=660$ litres