Amount or number? Which word is right for your sentence? Use amount when you are telling how much there is of something that cannot be counted in numbers.
A large amount of lava shot out of the volcano.
Use number when you are telling how many there are of something that can be counted.
A great number of rocks tumbled down the mountain.
Remember , the word quantity may be used both with things that can be counted and with things that cannot be counted.
Antarctica is covered by a great quantity of ice. A large quantity of penguins live in that frigid land. Amount comes from amonter, an early French word that means "to go up" or "rise." The French word is from a Latin phrase that means "to the mountain."