Volume Converter
Convert liquid and cubic volume between metric, US and UK units. Choose two units, type a value and get the answer right away.
Select two units to see the conversion factor.
This tool converts volume to volume. It does not convert volume to weight (that needs density). Bushels, pecks and other dry measures are in the Volume - Dry Converter.
Volume Formula
Every volume unit is a fixed part of the cubic meter. Result = value × (size of source unit in m³ ÷ size of target unit in m³). Exact sizes: 1 liter = 0.001 m³, 1 US gallon = 231 cubic inches = 3.785411784 L, 1 UK (imperial) gallon = 4.54609 L, 1 US fluid ounce = 1/128 US gallon and 1 UK fluid ounce = 1/160 UK gallon.
What Is Volume?
Volume is the amount of space something takes up. The SI unit is the cubic meter (m³). For liquids and cooking, the liter (L) is more common. One liter equals one cubic decimeter, and one milliliter equals one cubic centimeter (cc).
The list has four groups. Metric: cubic meter, liter, milliliter and their prefixes, plus the metric cup and spoons. US customary liquid: gallon, quart, pint, cup, gill, fluid ounce, tablespoon, teaspoon, minim and the oil barrel. UK (imperial): the same names but different sizes. Cubic and trade units: cubic inch, foot, yard and mile, acre-foot, board foot, cord and stere.
US and UK units are not the same. A US gallon is 3.785 L and a UK gallon is 4.546 L, about 20% larger. A US fluid ounce is 29.57 mL and a UK fluid ounce is 28.41 mL. A US pint has 16 fluid ounces and a UK pint has 20. Always choose the right system for your recipe, fuel or label.
Liquid and dry volume. This page uses liquid measures. US dry quarts and pints are not the same size as liquid ones. Use the dry converter for grain and produce.
Supported Units
This converter supports the following 67 volume units. The last column gives the size of each unit in cubic meters.
| Unit | Symbol | Value in m³ |
|---|---|---|
| Cubic meter | m³ | 1 |
| Liter | L | 0.001 |
| Milliliter | mL | 1e-6 |
| Cubic kilometer | km³ | 1,000,000,000 |
| Cubic decimeter | dm³ | 0.001 |
| Cubic centimeter | cm³ | 1e-6 |
| Cubic millimeter | mm³ | 1e-9 |
| Cubic centimeter (cc) | cc | 1e-6 |
| Exaliter | EL | 1e+15 |
| Petaliter | PL | 1e+12 |
| Teraliter | TL | 1,000,000,000 |
| Gigaliter | GL | 1,000,000 |
| Megaliter | ML | 1,000 |
| Kiloliter | kL | 1 |
| Hectoliter | hL | 0.1 |
| Dekaliter | daL | 0.01 |
| Deciliter | dL | 0.0001 |
| Centiliter | cL | 1e-5 |
| Microliter | µL | 1e-9 |
| Nanoliter | nL | 1e-12 |
| Picoliter | pL | 1e-15 |
| Femtoliter | fL | 1e-18 |
| Attoliter | aL | 1e-21 |
| Cubic inch | in³ | 1.6387064e-5 |
| Cubic foot | ft³ | 0.02831684659 |
| Cubic yard | yd³ | 0.764554858 |
| Cubic mile | mi³ | 4,168,181,825 |
| Gallon (US liquid) | gal (US) | 0.003785411784 |
| Quart (US liquid) | qt (US) | 0.000946352946 |
| Pint (US liquid) | pt (US) | 0.000473176473 |
| Cup (US) | cup (US) | 0.0002365882365 |
| Gill (US) | gi (US) | 0.0001182941183 |
| Fluid ounce (US) | fl oz (US) | 2.957352956e-5 |
| Tablespoon (US) | tbsp (US) | 1.478676478e-5 |
| Dessertspoon (US) | dsp (US) | 9.857843187e-6 |
| Teaspoon (US) | tsp (US) | 4.928921594e-6 |
| Fluid dram (US) | fl dr (US) | 3.696691195e-6 |
| Minim (US) | min (US) | 6.161151992e-8 |
| Gallon (UK, imperial) | gal (UK) | 0.00454609 |
| Quart (UK) | qt (UK) | 0.0011365225 |
| Pint (UK) | pt (UK) | 0.00056826125 |
| Cup (UK, ½ pint) | cup (UK) | 0.000284130625 |
| Gill (UK) | gi (UK) | 0.0001420653125 |
| Fluid ounce (UK) | fl oz (UK) | 2.84130625e-5 |
| Tablespoon (UK) | tbsp (UK) | 1.775816406e-5 |
| Dessertspoon (UK) | dsp (UK) | 1.183877604e-5 |
| Teaspoon (UK) | tsp (UK) | 5.919388021e-6 |
| Minim (UK) | min (UK) | 5.919388021e-8 |
| Cup (metric) | cup (metric) | 0.00025 |
| Tablespoon (metric) | tbsp (metric) | 1.5e-5 |
| Teaspoon (metric) | tsp (metric) | 5e-6 |
| Barrel (oil, 42 US gal) | bbl (oil) | 0.1589872949 |
| Barrel (US liquid, 31.5 US gal) | bbl (US) | 0.1192404712 |
| Barrel (UK, 36 UK gal) | bbl (UK) | 0.16365924 |
| Hogshead (63 US gal) | hhd | 0.2384809424 |
| Tun (252 US gal) | tun | 0.9539237696 |
| Board foot | bd ft | 0.002359737216 |
| Cord (128 ft³) | cord | 3.624556364 |
| Hundred cubic feet (ccf) | ccf | 2.831684659 |
| Ton register | ton reg | 2.831684659 |
| Acre-foot | ac·ft | 1,233.481838 |
| Acre-foot (US survey) | ac·ft (US survey) | 1,233.489238 |
| Acre-inch | ac·in | 102.7901531 |
| Stere | st | 1 |
| Dekastere | dast | 10 |
| Decistere | dst | 0.1 |
| Earth’s volume (approx.) | V⊕ | 1.08321e+21 |
How to Use the Volume Converter
- Type the volume in the value box. Decimals and scientific notation such as 0.0025 or 2.5e-3 are accepted.
- Choose the From unit and the To unit.
- The result appears instantly, or press Convert Now. Very large or very small results are shown in scientific notation.
- Use Swap Units to reverse the conversion, Copy Result to copy the answer, open Show this value in all units for a full list, and Clear to start again.
Step-by-step by hand
- Find the size of each unit in the common base unit (m³): 1 L = 0.001 m³ and 1 gal (US) = 0.003785411784 m³.
- Divide the source size by the target size to get the conversion factor: 0.001 ÷ 0.003785411784 = 0.2641720524, so 1 L = 0.2641720524 gal (US).
- Multiply by your value: 10 L × 0.2641720524 = 2.641720524 gal (US).
Volume cannot be negative, so enter zero or a positive number.
Common Volume Conversions
- Fuel: 40 L equals 10.56688209 US gal and 8.798769932 UK gal.
- Cooking: 1 US cup equals 236.5882365 mL; 250 mL equals 1.056688209 US cups.
- Spoons: 1 US tablespoon equals 14.78676478 mL, and 1 US teaspoon equals 4.928921594 mL.
- Drinks: 1 UK pint equals 568.26125 mL; 1 US pint equals 473.176473 mL.
- Water tank: 1 m³ equals 1,000 L and 264.1720524 US gal.
- Concrete: 1 cubic yard equals 0.764554858 m³.
- Oil: 1 oil barrel equals 158.9872949 L.
- Irrigation: 1 acre-foot equals 1,233.481838 m³.
Liter to Other Volume Units
Quick reference for frequently used values
| L | gal (US) | gal (UK) | cup (US) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25 | 0.06604301309 | 0.05499231207 | 1.056688209 |
| 0.5 | 0.1320860262 | 0.1099846241 | 2.113376419 |
| 1 | 0.2641720524 | 0.2199692483 | 4.226752838 |
| 2 | 0.5283441047 | 0.4399384966 | 8.453505675 |
| 5 | 1.320860262 | 1.099846241 | 21.13376419 |
| 10 | 2.641720524 | 2.199692483 | 42.26752838 |
| 20 | 5.283441047 | 4.399384966 | 84.53505675 |
| 100 | 26.41720524 | 21.99692483 | 422.6752838 |
Where and Why This Conversion Is Used
- Cooking and baking: recipes from the US, UK and other countries use different cups, spoons and pints.
- Cars and fuel: liters, US gallons and UK gallons.
- Water and farming: cubic meters, liters and acre-feet.
- Construction: cubic yards and cubic meters of concrete, soil and gravel.
- Oil and trade: barrels and hogsheads.
- Medicine and labs: milliliters, microliters and cc.
Important Limitations
- The tool does not convert volume to weight. Use density for that, for example 1 L of water is about 1 kg but 1 L of honey is about 1.4 kg.
- Cups and spoons are not the same in every country. This tool lists US, UK and metric versions separately.
- The US survey acre-foot is slightly larger than the international acre-foot. Pick the one your document names.
- Biblical and old regional volumes are left out because they have no single verified size.