THEORY
ORY:
Volume is the amount of space an object takes up. It is measured in liters (L), milliliters (mL) or cubic centimeters (cm3 or cc). A cc is exactly the same volume as an mL and a liter is exactly the same volume as 1,000 mL.
Graduated cylinders are the tools commonly used to make measurements of volumes in the laboratory. The cylinders come in a variety of sizes. Common sense and availability dictate which size to use.
The graduation (i.e., divisions) on different sized cylinders have different values. Here are drawings of segments of two cylinders. The larger one (shown with liquid in it) has 1 ml divisions, the smaller one has 0.1 ml divisions.
Reading the volume measurements with a graduated cylinder is essentially the same as reading length measurements with a meter stick: the reading will always be comprised of digits that can be read with certainty (because of the graduations) plus an estimated digit based on the fractional part of the smallest division.
