Down Garden Services

 HOME    SITEMAP    SEARCH    ARTICLES  

Factors for Converting Units of Volume

This page contains a number of useful equivalences and conversion factors which can be used to equate the many units used to measure volume. When working out the amount of insecticide or weedikiller to use, it is important to get the measurement correct. Some are from a previous era and are rarely used to-day, but are interesting and useful if consulting old publications. The calculator below can be dragged around with your mouse for working out the conversion.

Use these links to other pages of conversion factors.
Length Area Mass Miscellaneous
Calculator floats on page drag
and operate with mouse.





One operation at a time, for
chain calculations clear result
and re-enter for next stage.

Useful Volume Relationships

Imperial (GB)

Although they are called the same thing there is a difference between Imperial or GB measurements and those in the USA,
eg. 1 Imperial gallon = 0.1605 cubic feet and 1 US gallon = 0.1337 cubic feet

fluid ounce = 1/20th pint = 1/32nd quart = 1/160th gallon
1 cup (GB) = 10 fluid ounces = ½ pint (GB) = ¼ quart = 1/16th gallon
1 cup (US) = 8 fluid ounces = ½ pint (US) 1 pint (GB) = 20 fluid ounces = ½ quart = 1/8th gallon
1 quart = 40 fluid ounces = 4 cups = 2 pints = ¼ gallon
1 gallon = 160 fluid ounces = 8 pints = 4 quarts = 0.1605 cubic feet (GB) = 0.1337 cubic feet (USA)

Metric

1 millilitre = 1 cubic centimetre (cc, cm3) ie. 1cm x 1cm x 1cm
1 centilitre (cl) = 10 cubic centimetres
1 litre = 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3)
1 litre = 1 cubic decimetre ( ie. 10cm x 10cm x 10cm )
1 litre = 1/1000th of a cubic metre
1 British Standard metric teaspoon = 5 millilitres (ml)
1 British Standard metric tablespoon = 15 millilitres (ml)

In cookery dry ingredients are often measured out by volume, so the weight will vary depending on the density (see also Factors for Converting Units of Mass page). So a cupful of sifted flour is roughly half the weight of a cupful of granulated sugar. Also when given the volume in spoonsful it usually means a heaped spoonful of the dry ingredient with as much above the bowl of the spoon as in it. A spoonful of liquid ingredient would obviously be less.

Dry Measure
4 gills - 1 pint
2 pints = 1 quart
4 quarts = 1 gallon
2 gallons = 1 peck
4 pecks = 1 bushel
3 bushels = 1 bag
4 bushels = 1 coomb
5 bushels = 1 sack (flour)
8 bushels = 1 quarter
36 bushels (12 bags) = 1 chaldron
40 bushels (5 quarters) = 1 wey (horse-load)
2 weys = 1 last.
Liquid Measure
4 gills = 1 pint
2 pints = 1 quart
4 quarts = 1 gallon
9 gallons = 1 firkin
10 gallons = 1 anker
2 firkins = 1 kilderkin
2 kilderkins = 1 barrel
1½ barrels = 1 hogshead
2 hogsheads = 1 butt
2 butts = 1 tun

Cubic measure Note that when converting volume units, the linear and volume relationships are not the same. So a cubic foot is not 12 cubic inches, it is 12 inches cubed

1 cubic foot = 1728 cubic inches
ie. 12in x 12in x 12in.
12 cubic inches is approximately 2.289434in x 2.289434in x 2.289434in
1 cubic yard = 27 cubic feet
16 cubic feet = 1 cord foot
8 cord feet = 1 cord

Volume (Capacity) Conversion Factors

fromtomultiply by
cubic inches (cu in; in3)cubic centimetres16.387
cubic centimetres (cc; cm3)cubic inches0.061
cubic incheslitres (l)0.01638
cubic feetcubic metres0.0283
cubic metrescubic feet35.315
cubic yardscubic metres0.7646
cubic metrescubic yards1.308
gills litres0.142
imp fluid ouncesmillilitres28.41
millilitresimp fluid ounces0.0352
US fluid ouncesmillilitres29.57
imp fluid ouncesUS fluid ounces0.961
US fluid ouncesimp fluid ounces1.041
litresimp fluid ounces35.1961
litresUS fluid ounces33.8150
imperial pints (imp pt)litres0.568
litresimperial pints (imp pt)1.7598
litresUS pints2.1134
imperial quarts (imp qt)litres (l)1.137
litres (l)imperial quarts 0.88
imperial quarts US quarts (US qt)1.201
US quarts imperial quarts0.833
US quarts litres (l)0.946
litres (l)US quarts1.057
imperial gallons (imp gal)litres4.546
litresimperial gallons0.2199
imperial gallonsUS gallons (US gal) 1.201
US gallons (US gal)imperial gallons0.8327
US gallons (US gal)litres3.785
litresUS gallons (US gal)0.2642

For a less accurate mental reckoning the following can be used:-
litres to pintsmultiply by 7 and divide by 4
pints to litresmultiply by 4 and divide by 7
litres to gallonsmultiply by 2 and divide by 9
gallons to litresmultiply by 9 and divide by 2

Champagne Bottle Sizes

TypeCapacityNumber of bottles
Quarter18.75 cl¼
Half-Bottle37.5 cl½
Bottle75 cl1
Magnum1.5 litre2
Jeroboam3 litre4
Rehoboam4.5 litre6
Methuselah6 litre8
Salmanazar9 litre12
Balthazar12 litre16
Nebuchadnezzar15 litre20
Melchior (Solomon)18 litre24
Primat27 litre36

The for ease of handling the secondary fermentation which gives champagne its sparkle, is usually carried out in Magnum-sized bottles then decanted into the other sizes. A full Nebuchadnezzar weighs 38 kilograms and the Primat weighs 65 kg.
These bottle sizes are also used for some Fench wines with the addition of a Marie Jeanne (3 bottle) and Double Magnum (4 bottle) for Bordeaux - the Jeroboam for this wine contains 6 bottles. Needless to say they are usually served from a special cradle.


Top ^ Length Area Mass MiscellaneousCalculator

Back to Down Garden Services

© DOWN GARDEN SERVICES - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - Copyright Notice