Volume and Capacity.

[blueyedevil]

<P align=left>What is the difference between volume and capacity?

<P align=left>A friend asked me this during a free and we couldn't figure it, is there actually a difference because I think we've been led to believe there is.

[Marsh]

Take a crystal ball, solid glass, and a glass bubble of the same size..  They have the same volume but the bubble also has capacity � it is capable of holding a liquid.  Having said that, volume can be used to mean capacity and dictionaries accept this as correct..

[Octavius]

Volume - The volume of a solid is the amount of space it occupies.

Capacity - Capacity is the amount of liquid a container can hold when it is full.

[Octavius]

The above of course are often both used in the same context but that is the general rule.  For example an engine's capacity is the displacement or swept volume by the pistons of the engine. It is generally measured in litres or cubic inches for larger engines and cubic centimetres (abbreviated to cc's) for smaller engines.

Engine displacement is defined as the total volume of air/fuel mixture an engine can draw in during one complete engine cycle; it is normally stated in cubic inches, cubic centimeters, or litres. So....

Volume (also called capacity) is a quantification of how much space an object occupies. The SI unit for volume is the cubic metre.

[bernardo]

Capacity is a subset of the various meanings of the word volume.