
home	test	drill	game	contact

Volume Conversions

Key Concepts

The unit of volume derived from SI units is the cubic meter, m³.
Chemists in a laboratory usually deal with much smaller volumes than cubic meters and the metric but non-SI units of liter or litre (L) and milliliter or millilitre (mL or ml) are in common use.
In 1964 the litre was redefined as being equal to exactly 1 cubic decimetre:
1L = 1dm³
So 1 milliltre = 1 cubic centimetre
1mL = 1cm³ (= 1cc)
Non-metric units of volume can still be found in use around the world, eg, gallons of gas in the USA and a pint of beer in the UK.

Volume Conversions

Metric Unit Conversions

factors 10¹² 10⁹ 10⁶ 10³ 10² 10¹ 10^-1 10^-2 10^-3 10^-6 10^-9 10^-12 10^-15 10^-18

prefix tera giga mega kilo hecto deca deci centi milli micro nano pico femto atto

symbol T G M k h da d c m µ n p f a

1 litre (1L) = 10³ millilitres (1000mL) 1 millilitre (1mL) = 1 ÷ 10³ litres = 0.001L

1 megalitre (1ML) = 10⁶ litres (1,000,000L) 1 litre (1L) = 1 ÷ 10⁶ megalitres = 10^-6ML

1 microlitre (1µL) = 10^-6 litres 1 litre (1L) = 1 ÷ 10^-6 microlitres = 10⁶µL

Examples of Volume Conversions Using Metric Units

Convert 1 litre to decilitres
From the table above we see that deci = 10^-1 = 0.1
1dL = 0.1L
1L = 1 ÷ 0.1 dL = 10dL
Convert 2.5L to millilitres
1L = 1,000 mL
2.5 L = 2.5 x 1,000mL = 2,500 mL
Convert 5 millilitres to litres
From the table above we see that milli = 10^-3
5mL = 5 x 10^-3L = 0.005L
Convert 0.250L to microlitres
1µL = 10^-6L
1L = 1 ÷ 10^-6 µL = 10⁶ µL
0.250L = 0.250 x 10⁶ µL = 2.50 x 10⁵ µL = 250,000 µL
Convert 25 µL to millitres
1 µL = 10^-6L
25 µL = 25 x 10^-6L = 2.5 x 10^-5L
1L = 1,000 mL
2.5 x 10^-5L = 2.5 x 10^-5 x 1,000 L = 2.5 x 10^-2mL = 0.025mL

Non-metric Units of Volume

1 US liquid gallon = 231 cubic inches = 3.785411784 litres
1 US fluid ounce = ¹/₁₂₈ US gallon = 0.0295735295625L = 29.5735295625mL
1 US pint = ¹/₈ US gallon = 16 US fluid ounces = 473.1764729984mL
1 US quart = ¹/₄ US gallon = 32 US fluid ounces = 946.3529459968mL

Examples of Conversion Between Empirical Units and SI Units of Mass

Convert 10 US gallons to millilitres
1 gallon = 3.7854L
1L = 1,000mL
1 gallon = 1,000 x 3.7854 mL = 3,785.4mL
10 gallons = 10 x 3,785.4mL = 37,854mL
Convert 2.5 US fluid ounces to millilitres
1 fl oz = 29.5735 mL
2.5 fl oz = 2.5 x 29.5735 mL = 73.9338 mL
Convert 200 litres to US gallons
1 gallon = 3.7854L
1L = 1 ÷ 3.7854 gallon = 0.2642 gallon
so 200L = 200 x 0.2642 gallon = 52.8346 gallon
Convert 150 millilitres to US fluid ounces
1 fl oz = 29.57353 mL
1mL = 1 ÷ 29.57353 = 0.03381 fl oz
So 150mL = 150 x 0.03381 fl oz = 5.072 fl oz
Convert 500 millilitres to US quarts.
1 quart = 946.353 mL
1mL = 1 ÷ 946.353 quart = 0.00106 quart
So 500mL = 500 x 0.00106 quart = 0.528 quart