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Rebuilding civilization

Unit converters

Volume and capacity

Litres, cubic metres, US and imperial gallons, cubic feet, barrels and kitchen measures.

Equivalents

millilitre—mL
litre—L
cubic metre—m³
measuring teaspoon—cdta.
measuring tablespoon—cda.
metric cup—taza
fluid ounce (US)—fl oz US
pint (US)—pt US
gallon (US)—gal US
imperial gallon (UK)—gal imp
cubic inch—in³
cubic foot—ft³
oil barrel—bbl

How it is calculated

The litre is a cubic decimetre: 1 L = 1 dm³ = 1000 cm³ = 1000 mL and 1 m³ = 1000 L. A cube with 10 cm sides holds one litre; one with 1 m sides, a thousand.

1 US gallon = 231 in³ = 3.785 L; 1 imperial gallon = 4.546 L (20 % larger). 1 ft³ = 28.32 L. 1 oil barrel = 42 US gallons = 159 L.

Keep in mind

  • The kitchen measures here are metric: teaspoon 5 mL, tablespoon 15 mL, cup 250 mL. The US cup is about 237 mL and household spoons can vary by 20-30 %: for medicines or chemicals use a syringe or a graduated cylinder.
  • To go from volume to weight you need the density: 1 L of water weighs 1 kg, but 1 L of oil about 0.92 kg and 1 L of loose flour about 0.55 kg.

See also

More tools in “Unit converters”